I can't fix you
by Backseat reader
Summary: Hiccup isn't an ordinary child and for the first year of his life is hidden away by his engineering and abusive father. But then when he has to attend school he's treated even worse. Then new girl Astrid arrives and ain't taking anyone's shit, she can be friends with whoever she likes thank you very much. (Warning: a different type of self harm)
1. The beginning

"This is test 13 of . . or HICCUP for short" said a woman in a brown lab coat with a blue surgical mask on and a clip board in hand. She had sharp green eyes and brown hair that was braided securely behind her head. She stands next to a mass of metal that resembles a 12 year old child with brown hair and a skinny frame.

"Not to be that last" came a cheeky mutter from behind her as a huge man with a braided red beard and the a much duller green pair of eyes in comparison to the woman next to him as he seats down a generator the size of the woman with the same ease as picking up an apple. He wears simple blue overalls with dark stains of oil all over them.

The woman ignored him and continued "Hiccup is the future of A.I technologies capable of learning quickly and even thinking for itself, it will help with duties around the house, run errands, help in businesses and help with dealing of emotional stress" she paused to look fondly at the robot before continuing "its integrated with a set of nano bots to act as a nervous system and damage control so it's able to replicate anything a human can do and even re-attach or if necessary even re-make entire limbs"

"These could all be useful for self defence and military purposes, could probably think up the most powerful of weapons and prevent wars" said the man behind her as he attached wires into sockets on the robots neck.

The woman frowned but and looked at him, he attached the last wire and gave a thumbs up before they both walked back a safe distance. The camera remained set where it was its distance, set in front of the robot.

"I will press the activation switch in 3, 2…1… now" called the woman as she pressed down on a button with a wire leading the the machine behind the robot which lit up blue and started vibrating.

The man shielded the woman and they stayed like that while something else happened.

The machine vibrated then the vibration slowed down and one of the robots hands jerked then clenched and unclenched curiously. Slowly the head began to rise as its body began to twitch all over, then a layer of skin began to grow in patches all over it and slowly covered the robot in a pale freckled skin. It opened its eyes to reveal two normal looking sharp green eyes as it looked around at its environment"

The man and woman looked up from there cover and there eyes widened at what they saw.

"I did it" "you did it" they said disbelievingly before quickly turning to each other and embracing and laughing uncontrollably.

The robot looked over at them with a curious expression on its face before croaking out in a nasally voice "mom?…Dad"

They both froze to look over at the boy before looking at each other and quickly huddling and a series of harsh whispered are picked up by the camera audio.

They turn round with the woman looking happy but the man frowning. "In a way dear yes" said the woman gently approaching the robot "I'm valka and was one of your creators" she gestured over to the man who had edged his way slowly forward "and this is Stoick, your other creator" she smiled at the robot "so yes, were your mom and dad, son" she said smiling with a tear coming out of her eye.

She elbowed the Stoick

"It's… ah… nice to meet you… son" he said awkwardly but also smiling.

Suddenly the tape is paused and everyone in the court room turns to the blonde woman "I'm afraid this marks the point t at which things go downhill and the following footage shows death so those sensitive to such material may wish to leave and come back in a few minutes"

No one left under her icy blue stare. She looked over to the witnesses and met the stare of a 15 year old girl who was a spitting image of her who sat there with silent tears in her eyes but nodded silently.

The woman continued the recording.

While the meeting between creation and creator had been taking place, the generator was still glowing blue but had been increasing in vibrations, currently unnoticed by all.

Then a banging was heard and smoke started rising from it. The occupants of the room turned to the generator and then the man started saying "Quick, Val run befo-"

A sharp screech is heard and the camera lens suddenly goes orange and then topples over so the view is sideways. Then the colour dies down to show fire almost everywhere in the fire a dark shadow slowly walks toward the camera. It's the robot but a lot of its skin has been melted off.

It spots something and runs over to it before it comes back into view dragging something along. The unconscious form of Stoick is dragged into view and snags the cameras tripod in one of his overall pockets as he's dragged toward an unseen exit the camera bumps something and is tilted to face into the lab to show everything in fire.

Then valka appears but at the far end of the lab, the robot clearly saw her too as it calls out to her "MOM!" The woman looks up and smiles sadly at the robot before calling up above the flames

"Don't worry about me just get him to saf-"she's cut off as the roof above her finally caves in and rubble and rocks fall onto her, luckily 5e flames hide what is Lilly a gruesome view

"MOOOOOOOOMMMM" screams out the robot but continues to carry Stoick out of the fire and into a fireless room as a big steel security door closes on the fire inferno.

The video feeds go back but whimpering can be heard form the robot child.

The TV stops playing and the court room is silent.

"I call my first witness Astrid Hofferson"

The 15 year old stands up and walks up to the booth all the while glaring at a man who looks similar to the one in the video but had almost emotionless eyes and a few grey streaks in his red beard as he tries to look as small as possible in the impossibly-to-small-for-him chair.

After swearing the oath to say the truth and nothing but the truth (the final part coming out angry and venomously) as she glares even harder at the man in the chair then at a black haired kid with huge nostrils and two identical blonde twins who all cower under her gaze.

"Hiccup is an interesting one" she starts "and what life's lottery had in plan for him was not at all what he deserved but some decided that his life should be as hard as possible"she bit out looking at the same four individuals"

"Please just start form the beginning ma'am" said the judge

"Of course" she said shaking herself "it all started one day in school…"

~§~

 ** _So how was it?_**

 ** _Give a review and follow if you enjoyed_**

 ** _I don't have anything specific about when the next chapter will be out but it will happen rest assured (probably) and I shall update soon (maybe)_**

 ** _I also got all my ideas of how a American court room works from shows and podcasts so it is probably very wrong so sos bout that_**


	2. Pain and release

It was a year to the day of the explosion and Hiccups year of life had him re-evaluating the options.

His 'father' hardly spoke fondly to him or of him especially when drunk. For the most part he had kept hiccup quiet because as he said often "your lucky I still keep you around rather then declare you to the government or scientific community" and after the first time he had raised his hand to the machine he had said "the government would do far worse to you" and to "be grateful"

Hiccup certainly didn't feel grateful

He wasn't even certain he really felt at all.

Stoick worked as an chief engineer at a robotics company and helped build robots for the people (or the highest bidder) to help with household duties, entertainment and even military purposes.

It was funny how he saturated his world with nothing but machines, and showed a true love for the craft, but couldn't stand hiccup.

Valka death turned into a mass cover up as Stoick said she had been working on an experiment that caused a fire and collapsed the basement. He had his hiccup for weeks and weeks in a cupboard deep in the attic (Hiccup was certain that 2 of those 6 weeks he had just forgotten about him)

Hiccup hadn't been allowed to the funeral. He wasn't even allowed outside the house.

He had learned quickly to not talk about how he was feeling because he was either ignored, dismissed or told to shut up and do some menial task like a slave.

On this day however Stoick was a lot worse.

Far more drunk.

Far more disapproving of the robots existence.

After cleaning the house very thoroughly like he had been ordered to do so and walking up to Stoick private study and work shop to report to Stoick he had finished. Stoick had marched towards him and had given no warning as he slapped the boy with the hand the size of the boys face.

 _Damage detected to left side of face…_

 _Generating mark…_

Then as the boy cowered from the blow a punch came up to the gut.

 _Damage detected to gut…_

 _Generating bruises and losing balance…_

The boy toppled over and lay in a crumpled heap but did not cry out or shed any tear.

"Come on you scrap shit pile at least act like that hurt" came a gruff voice from above "we created you for this purpose and your useless at it"

It hurt to be called useless

Then Stoick turned and walked back to his bench with a last remark of "you should of just stayed deactivated"

~§~

Hiccup lay there for 10 mins and 34 seconds before finally dragging himself up and away to his room which was small and cramped and lay down on his bed and deactivating for a few hours.

When he woke up it was 6am in the morning, he got up and out of his room and walked to the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast, just as the toast was done Stoick marched into the room looking annoyed at seeing the boy there before snatching away the coffee and toast and muttering something about 'irritating machine' before sitting at the table and eating silently.

Just as hiccup went to leave Stoick coughed loudly and obviously. When hiccup turned he saw Stoick looking at him with a frown.

"I'm going to be very busy attending gathering and meet ups and conferences for the next few months so I won't be around much for a while but I will occasionally have to drop by to pick up items" he said "and your going to have to start attending school so that anyone who visits unexpectedly doesn't suspect anything" (usually he had to hide in his room when people visited) "if anyone asks say your adopted, that should cover up and explain a few things. I won't be here when you get back and all the stuff you'll need is in the hall and the bus arrives in about and hour or two" he paused and then said while finishing his meal "go get ready"

"But that would be inefficient" hiccup replied "I could do many things before having to get rea-"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK IS EFFICIENT" He roared "go get ready and get out of my sight"

Hiccup got out of his sight.

~§~

Having to wait about 1 hour and 55 minutes and 37 seconds was not the high light of hiccups day, he thought as he boarded the yellow and black bus and walked down the empty rows to the back to wait out the 30 minute school run.

Slowly the bus got filled up as the bus drove around the city of Berk at various bus stops. He noticed the kids giving him either weird or pitying looks but he chose to ignore there muttering as he stared out the window and to the street beyo-

"Hey" said a voice behind him

He turned to see a massive kid with black hair and huge nostrils leering at him with two identical twins of opposite genders behind him. "Yes?" He Asked Maybe this was an opportunity to make fren-

"Your in my seat new kid" said the black haired kid stepping closer

Hiccup looked around at the bus to see not only several empty seats but also most kids looking in there direction either with pity or with small grins.

"There are plenty of free seats all over" he pointed out "surly it would be more efficient to just take an empty seat"

The black haired kid leered at him "I don't care about what you think is efficient" he said

Did anyone care what he thought, he thought maybe people on the outside would at least give him some attention and maybe even listen to him.

"Cuz your new I'll let this pass but that leaves us with the point that you should get out of my seat" said the boy

Hiccup tried one last time "but there are plenty of-"

The boy snapped his fingers and the twins grinned and sauntered forward before grabbing him and lifting.

 _Threat detected…_

 _Activating self defence program…_

 _Program cancelled…_

 _Decreasing weight…_

Hiccup was lifted up under his arms and shoved back into the aisle.

Laughter and gasps rang out around him

"Wow, you really are useless aren't you" Snotlout said disbelievingly as he sat down in his chair then a dawn of realisation came across his face "and I think I've just come up with your nickname. Useless" he said smugly as the twins laughed

Hiccup stood up and looked around at the people who were all either avoiding his gaze and ignoring him or openly laughing at him.

So this is what life is like.

~§~

The rest of the school day didn't go much better

When the teacher announced that he was going to be joining this class and said his name Snotlout called out "it's actually useless sir"

The class erupted into laughter

Then at lunch when he had the food and was walking along no one offered him a spot and some even put bags in empty ones. He eventually had to sit at a table at the far back next to the bins and ate by himself.

Well not really ate more but the food in his mouth where all his nanobots were diverted to brake the food into its base minerals and proteins and kept what would be useful for repair and dumping the rest into a cylinder in the form of a fine dust so it was easily disposable of.

This continued for a week, everyday walk in and be tormented by the other kids, the only rest period being when he got home to an empty manor and simply deactivated.

He got home after a very hard day. Snotlout and tripped him in the corridor and then accidentally spilt all his juice all over Hiccup by 'accident' and exclaiming "look how useless you are, can't even walk right and you made me spill my juice" as the kids around him laughed.

Then when he finally cleaned up he was late to class and was chewed out in front of the whole class about being late.

It hadn't been a good day.

He sat on his bed but couldn't deactivate as thoughts started to swirl around his head.

Was he really useless? Well it was indirectly his fault his mom was dead and no one cared about how he really felt or what thought even in group activities no one really turned to him.

"Gods your so useless" "I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK IS EFFICIENT" "Wow you really are useless" "Come on show like you actually feel something" "actually sir it's useless" "your even useless at feeling anythi-"

 ** _WARNING EXTREME DAMAGE RECEIVED TO RIGHT HAND…_**

He looked down to see his left was gripping his right so hard it had dented and gone limp but that had distracted him from the thoughts of how he was used-

 ** _WARNING EXTREME DAMAGE RECEIVED_**

 ** _CONDITION..._**

 ** _RIGHT HAND SEVERED…_**

He realised that he had just torn off his right hand. He watched as the wires sparked and danced about before looking at the hand.

It could be easily reattached.

He hadn't felt a thing showing even further how usel-

 ** _GENERATING BLOOD FLOW…_**

 ** _CANCELLED…_**

 ** _BEGINNING REATTACHMENT OF HAND…_**

 ** _FAILURE…_**

 ** _HAND SIGNATURE NO LONGER RESPONDING…_**

He realised that he had just crushed it by accident

 ** _REGENERATING HAND ESTIMATED TO TAKE 60 MINUTES…_**

 ** _STAND BY.._**

He was really useless after all. He looked over at his hand then at the stump of his arm. That had been a nice distraction from the emotional turmoil inside of him.

He brought his left hand and foot together.

Was this really what he was resorting to just to avoid his emotions, he really was pathetic-

 ** _WARNING EXTREME DAMGE RECEIVED…_**

 ** _CONDITION…_**

 ** _RIGHT FOOT SEVERED…_**

~§~

Astrid was nervous to go to this new school.

When her parents had first told her they were moving because her mom was being transferred to the Berk P.D she had been less then thrilled.

Leaving behind her friend Heather had been tough and hard on her and she was angry at her parents. But now wasn't the time for that. Now was time for her game plan.

When she had first gone to her old school and everyone was inviting them to came sit with them and to 'come have fun with us' she had been tempted to join the, till she found heather sitting alone and looking as small as possible. She had marched over to her sat down beside her and started talking to her about that crazy lesson they just had. The other students as soon as they had seen her sit down with the other girl looked irritated but turned back to there conversations and in a few days she was completely forgotten about.

For the first few days she had only gotten quiet responses but little by little he girl warmed up to her and even started a few conversations as well. Within a month they were holding animated discussions about various topics and eventually were inseparable. Until now.

It was a tearful goodbye for the both of them and they promised to keep in touch and maybe even to visit the other at some point.

Long story short.

The people who want to be your friend, are most likely doing so for attention and status and don't generally care at all about you.

You actually want to try and befriend the people who aren't trying desperately to get you to talk to them.

Flawless if confusing logic but it had worked once it should work again.

She had been introduced to the class and told to take a seat right next to a brown haired kid with green eyes who glanced at her occasionally but didn't try to strike up conversation. Unlike everyone else.

"So is this your first time in berk?" "What was your old state like?" And o5er such question's we're asked until a loud voice asked "so you'll obviously want to sit with us at lunch isn't that right astrid" said a boy with black hair and huge nostrils and was currently fleeing his muscles in a vomitingly disgusting fashion.

"Uh… sure"she said hoping to get rid of him

At that point the teacher ordered for silence and began the lesson.

At lunch time Astrid looked around. She heard the usual "come sit here Astrid" "don't sit with them sit with us" and then the familiar voice of "I think you'll find she said she'll sit with me" said Snotlout while looking at her expectantly.

He was sitting with two blonde twins and a large husky boy who was scribbling down what was clearly three sets of identical Home Work.

If there wasn't someone who didn't want to be your friend then you have to still try and make friends no matter wha-

She then spotted in the corner the brown haired boy who was looking at her but quickly looked down at his food and turning smaller.

Astrid smiled

Target spotted

~§~

 ** _So was that good or bad?_**

 ** _Leave a review and follow if you enjoyed_**

 ** _This story was based off the living tombstone song 'I can't fix you'_**

 ** _Lines from the song may occasionally appear in the story_**


	3. A Friend and suffering

"I wouldn't sit next to me" the boy spoke first after a few seconds of silence

"And why's that" Astrid Asked as she nonchalantly ate her lunch next to h8m ignoring all the stares she got.

"Because your probably here because Snotlout Asked you to play some cruel prank" he said angrily "speak of the devil and they shall saunter over with a stupid expression on their face" he said in a small voice.

Snotlout was sauntering over with a confused expression on his face as he looked at Astrid.

"Yo, you seem to have gotten mixed up" he said like he was talking to a small child who had asked a silly question "we sit over there" he pointed at his table "not with useless trash over here"

Astrid saw the expression on the boys face turn to one of hurt and pain from a simple offhand comment.

"Alright" she said and got up

"Nah it's alright babe, ya want me to esco-"

BAM!

The surrounding few tables when quiet as Astrid had just slammed her fists onto the table. She pointed her spoon threateningly. "Listen here shitbag" she said venomously "I don't have to sit at your table and I don't want to sit with some guys who just want me in there group as some sort of decoration so they can look better" she leaned forward "I don't belong to you and am certainly not your 'babe', so here's the deal" she pauses and leans forward further her hands and spoon now resting on the table "fuck off"

There was a stunned silence around them.

Hiccup didn't want to look up, this was probably some sort of prank and something was probably going to be said about him relating to him being useles-

 _WARNING DAMAGE RECEIVED…_

His eyes hidden by the bangs of his hair widened as he looked at his now dented hand

 _CONDITION…_

 _HAND DENTED…_

This was not a good place to do that.

Shit. What was he going to do.

Astrid stared into Snotlout eyes as the two held gazed before Snotlout finally looked away and turned to walk back to his table while calling out over his shoulder "it's alright… soon you'll see what we all see him for and come crawling to us, we'll be here anytime" he gave a laugh.

She sat back down and looked at the boy who was currently looking down and clutching his right hand though why or for what purpose she couldn't say because It's was pretty well hidden.

"Hey you alright?"she asked

The boys head suddenly shot up as he hid his hand from view and looked at her with a shocked expression on his face.

"Uh..uh.. yeah!, yeah I'm fine" he said holding his hand out of her eyesight and trying to act normal

She held out her left hand "I'm Astrid" she said

Hiccup looked at the left hand then at the clock in the corner telling him that the denting would be repaired in 4 minutes and 27 seconds.

Time slowed down as he tried to think through his options. Should he just not shake it? No! That would be rude and what if she wasn't actually some sort of spy from Snotlout, I mean that whole speech was pretty convincing. No! Don't you see she's clearly lying no one's this nice to us ever! Yeah but maybe it would be alright to live the lie for a while and at least feel a little bit happy… You know how pathetic that sounded right?... Yeah, fine you win.

Astrid watched as some sort of debate seemed to go on in his head before he quickly went back to continuing to eat. Others would have been disheartened but not Astrid. She was going to make this work or die trying. Plus he is kinda cu- No, none of that, we just need a friend or even a lifeline if things get to rough we don't need any kind of complicated relationship… maybe.

"You shouldn't listen to what he says, ya know" Astrid said as she got back to eating her food.

Hiccup stayed quiet for a few seconds. Why was she here? Did she genuinely want to get to know him and talk to him and be friends with him? No! Obviously not she just wants to learn our secrets and exploit them and use it against us! But If I keep living the way I am I don't know if I can be bothered to go on much longer. Maybe I can just allow myself to slip into the lie she's probably weaving around me.

"But he still says them" he replied "and it's not just him"

"And why should you care what they think?" Astrid asked

"Because…. Because" why should he care? "There all the people I know"was that really a reason though?

Silence for a while past between them.

"Hiccup" he said at last

"What?"

"My name, it's hiccup"

"Oh, what a weird name" she looked at him "but it could be worse… like Snotlout"

He smiled and held out his hand. Astrid grinned and shook it as the bell rang.

Maybe he could live this lie for a while.

~§~

It was science class. Which hiccup really enjoyed, but when it got to experiments and to group up in pairs… he was always left alone and had to do it all on his own.

Hiccup walked in and sat down not expecting much of an interruption to the usual routine.

He groaned internally seeing it was an experiment to do with hydrochloric acid and metals and their different rates of dissolving to be done… in pairs

Everyone stood up and walked around to their usual cliques and pairs. He got up and frowned as he started walking around and gathering the equipment being avoided like the plague and as he set it all down on the table a light punch was delivered to his shoulder he looked around to the puncher and was surprised to see Astrid there smiling at him.

"Yo, you and me" she said with a smile

"Well you'll have to join the line" he said sarcastically

Why did he say that!? Now she was gonna be annoyed and walk off ruining his one chance at-

Astrid chuckled as she put her book down and helped in setting up the equipment. She liked his sarcasm? Stoick had always said that it was an annoying defect he wished he could just remove, and others seemed to just hurt him when he did it.

Astrid preferred this to the timid boy she had first seen in the cafeteria.

They were halfway into the experiment and it had gotten to the point where it was just watching metals dissolve and checking the time when they did.

"So what are you into Hiccup?" Astrid Asked suddenly as they both watched the beaker with the acid in it their heads resting on their hands. (Hiccup had started doing it after seeing Astrid do it)

"I like and do some engineering" This was true. He had found out that the tip of his index finger could open to reveal a soldering iron and for the moment he just enjoyed soldering microchips that had no purpose other then to look pretty with interesting patterns on them. "I'm honestly not that interesting. "What are you into Astrid?"

Astrid looked thoughtful for a second. "I'm good at running and planning on joining the track team, that and marshal arts"

"What do your parents do then?"

"My moms a police officer and my dad is an engineer. What do your parents do?"

"I'm adopted and my mom died sort of just after my… birth and I don't know what happened to my dad"Hiccup said sadly

"Oh, that sucks" Astrid said "you don't have to tell me"

Hiccup stayed silent for a while. "My adopter is Stoick Haddock"

Astrid turned to him "my dad talks regularly about him, is he really as great as they say he is?"

Hiccup looked away "Yeah… he's really something"

She missed the sad tone in his voice as she recorded the time in her notebook.

"Two parents" he said "That's must be harsh on you when you mess up"

"What do you mean" she looked at him frowning

"Well I mean… getting two simultaneous punishments must be hard of your body?"

"What? When I'm in trouble they always explain why and then ground me or just shout but they always apologise and tell me they love me afterwards?" She narrowed he eyes "how are you punished?"

 _'I'm banning your from talking for the next few days now come here and open your mouth'_

 _'Please… no… anything… please don-'_

 _Crack_

 _ **EXTREME DAMAGE RECEIVED…**_

 _ **CONDITION…**_

 _ **LOWER JAW MISSING…**_

 _ **GENERATING BLOOD FLOW...**_

 _ **CANCELLING…**_

 _ **ACTIVATING REGENERATION PROTOCOL…**_

 _'And don't even think of regenerating it back until I tell you to'_

 _ **REGENERATION CANCELLED…**_

 _'Now get out of my sight'_

"Oh..uh the exact same" nervous chuckle "how else would they do so?"

Astrid looked at him suspiciously, then slowly turned back to her work.

'That was extremely suspicious' she thought to herself

~§~

Few words passed between them do the rest of the day and when hiccup finally got back home all he could do was think.

His mind was racing.

All he times Stoick had yelled at him.

 _WARNING EXTRM-_

Had punished him.

 _WARNING EXTRME-_

Had Brocken his heart.

 _WARNING EXTR-_

Had distanced him from being a human.

 _WARNI-_

Told him of how useless he was.

 _WARNING-_

All the times he'd felt his heart braking and the mistakes he's been making. How he wasn't useful to anyone how he was-

 ** _WARNING CRITICAL DAMAGE TAKEN…_**

 _CONDITION..._

 _LEFT LEG…_

 _SEVERERED…_

 _RIGHT LEG…_

 _SEVERED…_

 _ABDOMEN…_

 _TORN OPEN. CORE EXPOSED…_

 _FACE…_

 _SEVERED…_

 _LEFT EAR…_

 _SEVERED…_

 _COMPULSORY SHUT DOWN ACTIVATING IN TEN SECONDS…_

Hiccup looked around with his undisguised robotic eyes at the limbs and flesh and clothes and the fake blood that surrounded him…

All because Stoick was…

Stoick was…

"Why" He Asked to himself silently

He then through his head back as he felt the metal face plate dangling uselessly my a few cords tap against his neck as he let out a primal robotic shrill screech into the cold and empty house.

 _DEACTIVATING…_

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _So was that good or bad_**

 ** _I kind of want to rush through the bonding bit (as in not take about 10 chapters just to establish their friendship)_**

 ** _Ive also thought up an interesting twist that might happen_**

 ** _Don't know when I'll next update so in the mean time follow And review!_**

 ** _Also just want to establish that hiccup is the A.I And not the actual robot body and that this story is also supposed to be a sort of A.I learning about humans._**

 ** _See ya!_**


	4. Classes and suspicions

**_YO FIRST UP YA NEED TO LISTEN_**

 ** _I don't know if you were able to see chapter 3 cause when I updated it it didn't show up on the actual fan-fiction page for me so I dunno._**

 ** _Also even though this is in America I'm basing the education mostly on the British system_**

 ** _Also this chapter could be considered filler just day to day school grind ya know? Also I wouldn't recommend using the language I'm going to use but we used in school and it was very common_**

 ** _~§~_**

"And to expand the bracket you have to blah blah…" there math teacher droned on in the background.

Hiccup was happy to admit that his life was looking up, sure he still went home and was particularly violent with himself at times but… school was good. Astrid was good.

The two had a great friendship. They spent all there time together. Except outside of school.

Suddenly a thick work booklet slammed down in front of him and he was dragged from his thoughts to see that everyone was getting given these sheets.

He felt a nudge from his left.

"I'm stuck on question one" said Astrid's voice

He turned to look at her laid back position her back to the wall. The math room had tables and seats set up so that two people sat at one table. Hiccup had always sat in a back corner alone.

"Oh, no" hiccup mocked "the great Astrid Hofferson stumped by the first question universally known as the hardest question in the exam"

She punched him in the shoulder "just help me out, I don't want this as Home work"

Hiccup opened his own booklet and looked at the first question "find 40% of 273" he repeated out loud quietly "Astrid we need to work on your maths"

"And What makes you say that"

"The first 10 question's are the easiest"

"And how would you know, Mr calculator brain"

"The teacher says it every time we get these things" Hiccup deadpanned "like he literally says 'the first ten questions are to guarantee you at least get some marks on the paper and if your failing those you'll fail the real thing"

"Hiccup, I want an answer not a lecture"

"Okay first your find 10% and to find that you divide by 10"

Astrid quickly did the maths and looked at him "then you times that answer by 4"

"Oh" Astrid said as she realised how easy that was and blushed

"So has Astrid hofferson finally defeated her greatest enemy… semi complex maths"

"I could beat your ass"

"You could But you won't cause you love me"

"Fuck you"

"Aww Astrid come on don't be like that"

They stayed silent and did the worksheet for a few more minutes

"Well I'm stuck"

"Which one" was hiccups automatic response as he worked on question twelve which was a simultaneous equation

"Question…2" she said embarrassed

Hiccup looked at her sympathetically.

~§~

Hiccup groaned internally

Gym class was the worst. Especially when it was cold and it affected his eczema badly.

'Eczema But he's a robot' you may be wondering Well it's to do with his fake skin and how the cells decayed quite quick and caused a fair amount of angry red spots all over his weedy frame.

This was defiantly only his problem as all the other boys were clearly trying to cover up something else considering they were all hormonal 15 year olds and they were seeing girls in less then usual clothing. Hiccup didn't have this problem as the need for certain things wasn't really considered in his construction.

They were all do warm up laps around the field. The field That still had a layer of mist and the frozen ground that cracked under boot. Hiccup was straggling at the back. Why? He could easily keep up with all the others, but his internal sentience told him it would be how a kid with eczema would run so he had to. What he hadn't expected was for someone to jog up alongside him and keep pace with him.

"You don't have to run with me" he said pretending to be breathless

"I know" was all she said

"It could damage your chances of getting on the track team" he said

"Not really" she said shrugging "I've lapped everyone about two times" she said like it was no big deal.

"You never cease to amaze me" he said

"Another two reasons"she said "is because I don't want you being left alone with a bunch of easily manipulated boys and Snotlout in a Gym class"

"What about he locker room"

"I'm not your bodyguard Hiccup"

"You act like it sometimes"

"Can you blame me" she said accusingly as hiccup entered his 3rd lap and Astrid entered her 5th lap "what about the time when you didn't show up to lunch for 10 minutes and when you did you were hobbling"

"… I tripped?"

"I may be bad at maths but I'm not retarded" she said angrily "speaking of math… could you help me with that worksheet"

"Sure… at lunch?"Hiccup fake panted

"Actually no, you should come over to my house we can do it there"

"Wait your house, as in the house you live in" Hiccup said failing to fake being exhausted

"No my neighbours house, dumbass…. So you going or what?"she asked as they approached the finish line.

It would be nice to not have To go back to that big empty house where he had been abused for his whole existence. Stoick hadn't been in the house for 5 weeks so that was a advantage

Hiccup smiled.

~§~

They were walking through the suburbs together as they made there way to Astrid's house.

"My parents are gonna insist on you staying for dinner" Astrid said

"I don't have to if-"

"I would like to have you there"said Astrid matter-of-factly

"I dunno what if my dad-"

Astrid turned and put a comforting hand on his shoulder "Stoick isn't here, you don't have to worry"

Hiccup looked into her eyes and saw the honesty and hope in her eyes

"Dinner sounds nice" he said at last

Astrid grinned and they continued walking.

Eventually Astrid stopped in front of a house that looked identical to all the others. Number 143, it's driveway was empty.

"My parents usually get in around 5 so we have a few hours to ourselves" Astrid walked up and took out a key

Hiccup suddenly thought of a detail that had escaped his robotic brain for some time now "Will they be okay with, me just turning up?"

"Oh yeah, they know I'm not stupid when it comes to people and who I let in and out, plus my dad always ends up making too much food so you'll be alright" she said as they stepped into a front foyer that had wood floors and several doors and a staircase leading to other areas.

Hiccup looked around at how small all the rooms were compared to the house he lives in. Astrid set down her bag and walked into the kitchen which was pretty compact and didn't have a central island unit.

"You hungry" she asked as she opened the fridge and took out a small chocolate bar

Hiccup shook his head

She shrugged and opened up the wrapper as she took her shoes off and shoved them into a corner as she picked her bag back up and started to walk up the stairs.

Hiccup marvelled at her room when they entered. There was a wardrobe and a chest of draws in one corner then hanging from the wall was a poster of some sport person doing a thing and there were several trophies as well as what hiccup thought was some weird modern art until a bright blue and orange think darted up and clung to one of the walls.

"Aaaaaaaaastrid" It squawked loudly

Astrid walked up to the cage and opened the door and brought out a large blue parrot with an orange feather that stuck up from its head. "Hey girl"Astrid said sweetly "how ya been"

"Astrid!, Astrid!" It squeaked before looking at Hiccup.

Then suddenly it flapped its wings and took off heading straight at Hiccup.

Suddenly hiccup was pressed against the wall clutching it in pure terror as the bird sat in front of him its head bent sideways. Astrid watched this exchange with a raised eyebrow.

"Astrid! Help I think it's going to attack me!"he tried to back up further into the wall as the bird hopped forward.

"Oh relax hiccup" said Astrid as she went over and paced the bird onto her arm and picked up hiccup "You never seen a pet before?"

"A… pet?"

Astrid looked at him frowning "Wait, really you don't know pets, you've never seen a dog or a cat or even a gold fish before"

"I'm wasn't exactly allowed outside"said Hiccup defensively before he could stop himself

The room fell silent

Astrid had a concerned look on her face.

"Hic-"

"No… just… don't" he said quietly

An awkward silence followed

"Aaaaaaakwaaaaard" screeched the parrot as it flew over to a desk and started nibbling at a plastic cup

"So what it's name?" Asked Hiccup looking at the bird curiously

"Her names Stormfly" said Astrid as they watched her slowly drag the cup to the Edge and then chuck it off before looking at Astrid proudly.

"Well this math worksheet" hiccup said

They sat at the desk as stormfly flew over and landed on Astrids head.

They worked for 2 hours. Leaning in and talking with each other in hushed voices so as not to disturb stormfly. But when Astrid finally finished the last question she leaned back and stretched.

"Phew!... that was good!"she smiled at Hiccup "you were pretty good"

"You were alright yourself" he said smiling.

Suddenly the door bust in and a man was there with a scowl on his face, he had green eyes and blonde hair with a massive blonde moustache.

His scowl turned to surprise.

"DAD! Were you spying on us!" Asked Astrid suspiciously

"What! No" he said 100% convincingly

"Well maybe but I heard hushed voices and then I heard what you said just then and from my perspective it sounded a lot like…. You were doing something else" he said sheepishly "BUT. You can hardly blame me, I thought I was going to have to tell my daughter she shouldn't be doing such things, but to my surprise I find her doing maths with a boy… which could still be suspicious"

Both teens looked at him, Astrid with a massive blush on her face, and hiccup with the face of a kid who looked like he understood the adults conversation but actually didn't. He had also unconsciously moved to hide behind Astrid, an action that everyone but him noticed

"This is Hiccup, Dad… y'know the one I told you about" she said as she dragged Hiccup over to him, the last part a bit more quietly with a look in her eye.

Astrids fathers expression changed along with his posture.

"Ah! So this is Hiccup. Well it's nice to meet you lad" he said but his eyes were darting all over his slim form as if looking for something.

"It's, ah, nice to meet you too, sir" said Hiccup nervously shaking his hand which was surprisingly gentle.

"Ah, please, just call me Ash" he said with a wave of his hand "Well you kiddos have fun now!" And with that he left.

"Well he seems nice"

"Why were you hiding behind me?"

"What? Was I" He Asked looking perplexed "is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes it's a bit suspicious and not what normal people do hiccup!"

"But I thought…"he trailed off as his eyes glazed over as he seemed to be thinking about something. "I've gotta go to the toilet quickly" he walked past her and to the bathroom to absorbed to here her responses or questions.

He's been lying to us! This whole time! Now wait hold on! Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation- WHAT POSSIBLE EXPLANATION APART FROM HE WAS LYING COULD EXPLAIN THI-

 _WARNING DAMAGE RECEIVED…_

 _CONDITION…_

 _INDEX FINGER SEVERED…_

 _GENERATING BLOODLFOW…_

 _CANCELLING BLOODFLOW..._

 _REATTCHING SEVERED FINGER…_

 _3 MINUTED REMAINING…_ __

But hiccup didn't account for how fast the blood flow would be generated and didn't notice the one spot of blood that fell perfectly onto the white porcelain sink…

~§~

Astrids mom arrived a few minutes before dinner.

She was an athletically fit woman still in her police uniform, she had blue eyes and blond hair tied in a braid. She was a straight to the point person, unless doing the opposite would give her better answers. She was calculating.

She looked at the scrawny boy sitting eating soup and trying to make himself as small as possible.

Astrid had told them all about the boy when she got back from her first day at school. For the most she was quite positive until…

"… he said how it must be pretty rough having two parents" she said looking at her food "when I asked what he meant he talked about… about… punishments…something about two parents and how it must be tough on my body…" she trailed off.

Phlegma raised her eyebrow. "That sounds… pretty suspicious"

"His father is?..." Asked Ash tentatively

"He said he was adopted" Astrid said. Phlegma scowled, What sort of person just adopts a child to then… then. Calm, we don't have all the facts neither both sides of the story.

"But his adoptee father is… Stoick Haddock" she said finally

There was silence. Phlegma raised an eyebrow, interesting…

"The Stoick haddock?" Asked Ash in shock.

"Yeah"

"No that can't be, I've heard about how he's one of the best guys out there and-"

"That's just what he wants to appear like in public" said phlegma "But we also don't have both sides of the story and I'm afraid you don't have a lot of evidence" she said neutrally "But" she said as her daughter scowled and opened her mouth "I say you have pretty strong case already you should bring him over sometime, for dinner or something… I'm sure Stoick won't mind, by the sounds of it for the moment he's hardly ever home"

This could be a very big case. Especially since his wife… died… a year… ago.

"How long has he been adopted?"Asked Phelgma

"About a year now he said… why?"

"Call it a hunch"

And after meeting the boy she only had one conclusion. Something big had gone down or was currently going down. Especially after he left and Astrid described his weird behaviour when he left for the bathroom and how he was perfectly normal and denied anything happened in the first place.

especially the drop of blood that she found on the bathroom sink

~§~

Phlegma walked into the chief of polices office.

"You requested to see me Phelgma?" Asked the chief "is something not right? Do you wish to transfer back or-"

"I want to open a new investigation" she stated simply

The chief leaned in knowing that if it was Phelgma asking, it was a big deal

"Who's the target?"

"Stoick Haddock"

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _Look I don't know the first thing about policing procedures 'n' shit so it'll probably float off into fantasy land from then on._**

 ** _Plz follow and review and I'll see ya next chapter_**

 ** _(Ya'll are lucky at how generous I'm feeling cause I've just given you like four chapters in a row which is like a first for me)_**


	5. Halloween and running

"… and that concludes your English lesson" said the English teacher "for homework could you please read chapter 7 and 8, and a notification has just come in to remind you that the Halloween party will be happening on… surprisingly Halloween, dress up isn't required but is appreciated"

"Fucking Shakespeare, man" said Astrid as they walked out of the class room "I swear all these old writers just do it in purpose"

"Well in 100 years there be kids going 'fucking J,K Rowling, man. I swear she does it on purpose'"

Astrid looked at him "you enjoy it don't you?"

Hiccup laughed "Oh, no, it's the fucking worst"

They walked to there lockers which were luckily and very conveniently right next to each other.

"So you gonna go to the Halloween party" Asked Astrid as she opened her locker and started dumping the thick textbooks.

"Depends" he replied as he copied her actions "Are you"

"Well it would be the first I've gone to and I'm gonna dress up for it and I would hope that you would also dress up" she said off-handedly

"What, like in similar costumes?"

"No. Definatly not, that would look bad and suspicious"

"Why would it look suspicious"

She closed her locker and started making her way to their next class while patting him on the shoulder "I'll tell you when there older"

~§~

"Ah… fucking Germany"Astrid exclaimed as they walked out of history "why couldn't they have just y'know… not, like someone should of just gone 'nah, let's not do that' and then we wouldn't be here years later Fucking learning in great detail how they fucked up"

"That felt pretty pent up" Hiccup said

"Well, I'm also worried about this party" she said as they walked

"At least you have a costume" Hiccup said "I only realised I was going about 2 hours ago

"Yeah but it'll… be stressful… to apply- Why are there so many people just standing around staring!" Astrid Exclaimed because there were indeed dozens of people all standing and staring at something in the centre.

Snotlout was standing in the centre.

"Ah! Astrid there you are" He Exclaimed as the crowd parted before her, inadvertently pulling hiccup with them.

"What do you want Snotlout"

"Well" he started as he flexed a muscle "I hear that at the Halloween party this week there's a dance" he grinned "so Astrid would like to accompany me to the party"

Snotlout was counting on her caving into the pressure of everyone around her expecting her to say yes, plus.

"No thanks snotface" she said crossing her arms

He scowled then smiled again "Come on Astrid, I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself" he patted his chest "you should be grateful"

"Why do I need to redeem myself?" Asked Astrid one eyebrow raised

"Because you hang out with useless" he said as if stating the most obvious thing in the world

"But I don't hang out with you"

The crowed 'oooooooooooh'd lowly at that with even a few 'roasted' thrown in.

Snotlout scowled "come on its clear you hate hangi-"

Astrid walked up and punched him to the floor. Then she looked round then spotted something and walked back to the crowd which parted. All except one scrawny kid. She walked past him and attached one hand to his bags handle and started dragging him along as he held a shocked expression on his face.

"Come on Hiccup, were not getting through that way"

~§~

Astrid looked at her costume as she sat in the car. She had dressed up originally as a witch before thinking 'pretty dull' then she spotted some green make up. Now she was a zombie witch.

They were driving to the bus stop where Hiccup had said to pick him up.

"Astrid" her Dad said as they began nearing the bus stop "your mother told me to tell you to try and talk to Hiccup a bit more about certain things something about 'try and give him confidence' my advice is that your 15 so don't even think about it"

She chuckled "Dad, of all the boys to give me this advice with Hiccup is defiantly not the one"

They rounded the corner and the bus stop was in the distance and next to it was something glowing blue.

"Well someone's taking this seriously" Ash said as they pulled up to a stop

Astrid rolled down her window "Get in loser were going partying"

Astrid was also trying to cover up the surprise in her voice as she looked at hiccups costume. He had painted half his face with a metal paint and put in a contact lens that made his eye look very robotic, his shirt was torn in a few places showing what appeared to be his chest but painted to look like a robot body, his back had tubes that stuck out and attached to various parts of his body, his left arm was its normal flesh colour but his right was painted and looked so robotic like that Astrid had to do a double take just to make sure. Then his legs were normal except the actual foot of the left leg which seemed to bet a metal peg leg.

"You think this is good enough" He Asked as he checked himself over nervously

"Seriuosly?... I'm not even going to answer that…. Actually I am, you look fu- fricking amazing"she said as she looked him over

He smiled sheepishly

~§~

They pulled up in the school car park as kids around them walked towards the hall.

"We'll have fun you two I'll be back in a few hours" Ash called as they got out

"Alright see ya later Dad"

He drove off as they turned to each other.

"Are you Okay?" Asked Astrid as they walked towards the several open doors

"Well I feel fine but I have this feeling in my arms and stomach like something is constrictions it"

"Anxiety"

"Can you blame me, were about to walk into a building filled with people who bullied me for months and I'm wearing a ridiculous costume"

Astrid stopped walking and turned to him "you'll be fine" she said confidently "I'll be right here with you"

Hiccup smiled

And they walked into the party

" **SPOOKY, SCARY SKELETONS, SEND SHIVERS DOWN YOUR SPINE** " bellowed from the speakers it wasn't the original but the remixed version

Hundreds of people were in the hall either sitting or standing and mostly talking as the music blared around them.

"I'm gonna go grab some food, go get a table or something" she said as she walked towards the buffet table.

Suddenly hiccup was alone and surrounded by people who were staring at him in shock.

"I did not consent" he whispered and started awkwardly making his way toward the tables.

~§~

Astrid was grabbing herself food when.

"Oh, Hey Astrid, fancy seeing you here" said Snotlout as he walked up to her his arm around this other girl.

"Hello snotlout" She said sarcastically "I'm glad you saw how I wasn't even looking for you and saw the clear signs that I wanted to chat"

"I noticed that you don't have anyone with you" he said either ignoring what she said or missing the sarcasm "did useless get cold feet, decided not to come"

"Well I mean you're here so you clearly didn't get cold feet" she said as she looked over a selection of biscuits.

"How dare you talk to Snotlout like that!"exclaimed the girl next to him "you should be thankful he's so willing to talk to you after who you've affiliated with"

Astrid raised an eyebrow at them "sure, whatever you say"

"Why don't you come sit with us"said Snotlout

"No thanks" she brushed past them.

She made it to the table area and saw hiccup in the corner looking like he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

"They have the best selection over there, I think I found where most of the schools budget went" she said as she sat beside them.

Hiccup laughed "and yet there's still paint peeling off the walls but, No, we must get the cocktail sausages for the party!"

They both laughed

The party wore on as they sat in the corner chatting not noticing the stares they were receiving or that Snotlout and his cronies had sat nearby.

"AND NOW THOSE WHO WISH TO DANCE, CAN THEY PLEASE MAKE THERE WAY TO THE DANCE FLOOR"

"You wanna dance?" "Would you like to dance" they both said at the same time and in the same nervous tone of voice.

They both looked at each other surprised

"I, Uh… don't actually know how to dance" said Hiccup sheepishly

"Oh thank god" said Astrid relaxing "I don't have a clue either"

"With that ugly prosthetic I bet you'd end up just crushing Astrids feet" said a smug voice behind them

Astrid groaned while hiccup just frowned

"You saying you hate people with prosthetics snotlout" Asked Astrid

"Yeah there such horrible things" he said

"Huh!, my dad has a fake leg" the girl next to him said angrily

"Plus this is just… uh, clever makeup" said Hiccup

"Whatever" then to Astrid like it was just him and her "bet your regretting your choice now aren't you"

"Not really"

But he had already walked off.

"Why do people have to be dicks?" Asked Hiccup

"Cause there unhappy, or there missing something"Astrid said matter of factly

They stayed in silence

"So where'd you get the parts for your costume?"

"I Uh, bought them with… my dad money" he said quietly

Astrid looked at him concerned "won't he mind?"

Hiccup looked up at her "Of course he won't, he'll be happy" he said with a fake cheerful voice, but Astrid saw his eyes and what they showed.

Fear.

"Well alright, you should be more confident" she said in a way of changing the conversation

"I am confident"

"You don't talk back at all to Snotlout when I'm not around"

"…"

"You don't have to be afraid of him"she said "I'm here to help, as are my family"

Hiccup looked at her.

"You shouldn't be scared to say what you think"

Silence

"What if I agreed with Hitler"

"Some opinions should be kept to yourself"

"But you just said-"

"You know what I meant, smart-ass"

They stayed in a comfortable smile as they watched the couples dance

"You got a race coming up"

"Yeah" said Astrid "3 weeks away, gotta train hard, it's a big event the whole school will be watching"

"You'll do fine" said Hiccup "I don't doubt you'll win"

"Thanks"

~§~

The party drew to a close as people started leaving. Astrid And Hiccup left party and Astrid's mom picked them up.

"Good party?" she asked

"Yeah It was great, free food and getting to talk undisturbed"

"No dancing?" She asked

"We both don't know how to"

"Ah, me and your father were the same, love" she said wistfully

They dropped Hiccup off at the bus stop and as soon as it was out of eyesight Astrids mom looked at her in the rear view mirror.

"So"

~§~

Hiccup opened his front door the house was dark and quiet but something was off. It didn't feel emp-

"And where have you been?" Asked a deep gruff voice

"I was out at a Halloween party with a friend" he said in a small voice

"Friend?" Stoick said "Hiccup you can't have friends in case they find out" he said dangerously

"Well at least I'm happy" he said feeling a strange bit of confidence

His sensors suddenly picked up the hint of alcohol in the atmosphere. And Stoick thundered towards him. "YOU DON'T DESERVE FRIENDS AFTER WHAT YOU DID" he roared as he backhanded the boy. A loud smack echoing out.

Hiccup went flying into the corner and lay there in a crumpled heap but his mind was suddenly racing as he slowly stood up.

"It's because I can't be her… isn't it" he said in realisation

Stoick was silent, then he let outa furious roar and set upon the boy, the sounds of punches could clearly be heard unbeknownst to them by the hidden microphone hidden in the chandelier, which in turn was transmitting to a van that was parked a block away.

~§~

It was a day after Stoick had left and the wounds were- while not there- were still fresh and it was a weekend, so he was trapped in this manor with nothing to do. He walked around the manor, this had been the first time in a while since he had the opportunity to look around often being ordered about or just offline.

He came to an elevator.

The elevator that Stoick had tried to seal off after the incident. By the looks of it one of the boards had fallen off and he could squeeze through. I mean it's kind of obvious what the responsible hiccup did.

Hiccup stepped inside and looked around, it was a normal elevator, he looked at the two buttons and pressed the bottom one. Suddenly the doors closed and it started descending as hiccup started to panic.

The door reopened and he saw a dark room. A light flickered on and he saw the dust and the blackened mess off the room, a massive boulder covered one corner. The ceiling was a tunnel that lead to two metal doors covering it up.

Hiccup looked around the room. If he cleared it up, this could be a great place to hide. Then he saw in the other corner was a chamber that had escaped the fire. Inside was a computer.

Hiccup entered the little office and sat in the swivel chair and did a few spins before focusing on the computer, he wiped the dust off the screen and booted it up,

 **PASSWORD** :

Ah, well this was easy.

His middle finger detached itself as he stuck it into the second USB slot.

 **PASSWORD** **ACCEPTED**

Very easy.

Suddenly files popped up on the home screen, he guided the mouse over to the one marked "dragon weapon system" and opened it.

It showed the designs, blue prints and parts required for what appeared to be a cannon that fired plasma, underneath marked the words. 'Doesn't work, work on later' but hiccups brain was working quickly. He could see what had gone wrong, it was an easily fixable problem, it could be a good thing to keep his mind occupied. Maybe he could even…

His eyes darted to the word dragon.

That could work.

~§~

It was the day of the race.

People were getting into stands and talking excitedly about who they thought might win, meanwhile on the course several white tents were set up as the runners warmed up and drank water or energy drinks.

Astrid looked through the crowds but she couldn't see him. She was worried, had Stoick kept him home? Then again he had been unusually happy recently and had really been paying attention in the design technology class.

It had been two and a bit weeks before they were sitting in science and Hiccup had stretched and exposed some skin, she couldn't help but glance at it and she saw the dark bruise on his side.

Hiccup had after that night in an act of defiance kept one of the bruises and no matter how much Stoick threatened and beat him he refused to remove it… even when Stoick tried to rip the skin off. Not that Astrid knew that.

Astrid felt a tap on her shoulder, she looked for a few more seconds before finally turning and coming face to face, with a grinning hiccup.

She gasped and hugged him quickly not caring about the stares she was getting, "I thought you wouldn't show up" she said

"What, Who, me Nah, I'm much too cool for this" he said sarcastically "but I came along to give you all this confidence" he said gesturing to himself

"Well I need to be handed water don't I" she said as she took said bottle from his hand "how you even get in here?"

"They needed volunteers so I very reluctantly volunteered" he said jokingly

"Oh how terrible it must have been for you" she said teasingly as she stretched

"Well it could be worse, I saw snotlout trying to volunteer as well but by then it was too late" he said as she grabbed his shoulder and stretched her legs.

"Oh yeah cause he really cares about us running"she said as she looked around at all the other girls stretching.

"So how does this work?"

"Well the girls do 5 laps around the tragacanth followed by the boys who do 5 laps as well the. I think there's a game of football or something"

"Well forgive me if I'm not able to hang around for that"

"CAN THE RUNNERS PLEASE GO TO THERE MARKS"came a voice over the speakers

"Good luck" Hiccup said as they walked away from each other.

Astrid got into position on the starting line and took in a deep breath, the crowd went silent.

"ON YOUR MARKS"

In

"GET SET"

Out

"GO"

She kicked off

The crowd went crazy as she quickly took the lead, her first three laps went off without a hitch, her fourth was a bit slower and by her fifth the other runners started catching up, admittedly slowly as they were all just as exhausted.

She was in the straight, the finish was just ahead and she could here the others pounding their feet behind her as they slowly closed in, she was slowing, they were going to win.

She was coming up on the white tent and saw hiccup there looking at her with a fierce confidence in his eyes. 'Go' he mouthed and tapped his watch

Suddenly a fire lit up inside of her. Hiccup expected her to win. He was confident in her, he believed she could do this. Suddenly she was pounding forward the other girls staring wide-eyed as she shit off ahead of them.

She crossed the finish line.

"AND ASTRID FINISHES AFTER BEATING THE RECORD SET BY 30 SECONDS"

The crowed was going crazy.

She felt great and terrible at the same time.

She walked back to the tent to see Hiccup there clapping, he stopped and handed her a towl and a cold bottle of water which she was grateful for.

"You were fucking amazing" he said patting her on the shoulder.

She smiled at him, she felt so happy, nothing could bring her dow-

"Astrid babe that was great" said an irritating voice as Snotlout and Tuff and ruff walked in "you were amazing" those words from his mouth just sounded so wrong to him. "Is useless bothering you?" he asked glaring at Hiccup, ruff and Tuff grinned.

"Yes, you are bothering me" she said pointing at him

"Come on Astrid, you should stop fighting how you feel and should just come on a date with me" he said sympathetically

"Snotlout, please leave us alone" she said

Snotlout turned to Hiccup "you've been manipulating her, you've turned her against me" he stepped forward his fists balling.

"She didn't need me to do that, just a 10 second conversation with you" he said sarcastically before he could stop himself.

"What did you just say to me" said Snotlout as he raised his fist

SMACK

Astrid's fist connected with his face. Hard.

"I'm not your 'babe' and certainly do hate you" she turned to the twins who looked confused at what to do "and don't you two have something better to be doing then being mindless drones"

"What's a drone?" Asked Tuff

"Arrggghhh" yelled Astrid

She stormed over to Hiccup and gripped his arm as she walked off.

"Frickin Snotlout man" Hiccup said "ruins everything"

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _Longer chapter!_**

 ** _I knew I had it in me_**

 ** _We're coming close to the twist!_**

 ** _So follow and leave a review_**


	6. Revelations and revelations

Winter was in full swing at berk,

Winter in berk was very different from most other places, because snow came in around November and only left at March, this made things difficult.

It had its ups.

There was snow so lots of snow fighting fun and snow days where school had to close. In fact the schools had to close a week earlier then usual and it wasn't unusual to see massive trucks to even little fiats armed with a snowplough to fight the onslaught.

The downsides were that hiccup wasn't going to school, which meant little to no conversation with Astrid.

But he got lots of time to work on his project, he called it Night fury officially but secretly he called it toothless. At one point in the designs he had played with the idea of retractable teeth but had burst into laughter- he was surprised at that, was he picking up more human traits?- because he had made his destroyer robot cute.

Toothless wasn't sentient and only moved when hiccup sent out a signal that his body had tacked critical damage, at which the machine burst into life and rush to him for protection. At which point he could climb inside, of course the project wasn't near that stage at the moment and was still missing a few crucial parts that required his nano bots to make/convert from common household appliances he had ordered in so as not to look suspicious.

When hiccup was welding and generally working with hot material he would shed his skin because it just got in the way and he didn't need it.

He had a radio playing in the background while he worked as it was currently playing music loudly.

Suddenly the radio cut off and an announcer started speaking "Just to warn the citizens of berk that's class 8 blizzard is going to be coming in at 11 am today and staying till 8 pm, several homes are expected to lose power and its suggested to simply stay inside and keep warm" then the music came back on.

Then the door bell rang. Hiccup quickly looked at the clock, it was 10:50 am so he better be quick and send whoever it was on there way before this blizzard hit. He got into the elevator and made his way up, approaching the front door.

He looked through the peep hole.

It was Astrid

At his house.

Was he excited or nervous, he couldn't really decide as he through open the door.

"Hey hic-" Astrid started grinning then her eyes widened and her mouth froze

That was when hiccup realised two things.

1\. He wasn't wearing any skin

2\. last year Stoick had talked about how the porch roof was starting to give out and that even a violent shudder would make it collapse under an average amount of berk snow

He watched in slow motion as the roof broke and snow started pouring down.

He grabbed Astrid by her collar and threw her in before she could even register what was going on as Hiccup also threw himself after her.

"Well That was exciting" he commented dryly as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.

He turned to Astrid to see she was staring at him with fear in her eyes.

He took a step towards her and she backed up against a wall "stay away!" she shouted

"Woah, Astrid it's me Hiccup" he said as he regenerated his skin and clothes showing it was indeed him.

"H-hiccup?" Asked Astrid wide eyed and shaky "what's going on"

"I can explain" he said holding up his hands

Then it went dark.

Astrid let out a scream and curled in on herself hoping this was all some horrible nightmare.

Then a blue light came from the centre of the room, she looked to see it was the thing claiming to be Hiccup holding up one finger that was thinner then it should be and emanating this blue light.

"Hold, I think we have some candles somewhere" he said as he walked away taking the light with him

Astrid stayed there cowering in the dark.

This was a dream, this was a dream, this was a dream, she was going to wake up in a second and be in her bed and she was gonna visit hiccup and he would be there and not replaced wi-

"I found some" said hiccups voice.

She looked up to see the thing holding a several candles all lit, she watched as a bit of wax melted onto his skin and he didn't even flinch.

He walked over to the door to reveal that the snow had completely cover the door and not even a crack of light shone through.

"Well guess we're stuck here"he then turned back to her to see she was still up against the wall. "Which is probably a good thing"

He walked over and offered his hand.

Astrid stared at the hand, on the one hand it was fake and she couldn't trust whatever this thing was, but on the other hand it hadn't made any move to harm her and if anything had so far protected her from both snow and darkness.

She slapped the hand away and stood up. "I want answers, Now" she said dangerously as she walked towards the Hiccup thing. "What are you Hiccup?" It covered under her as it began backing up, fear in its fake eyes. Well it certainly acted like hiccup.

"And I can explain, just let me show you" he said holding one hand out in a pacifying gesture.

He walked to the living room and quickly lit up the fire place before walking back out into the darkness before walking back with a camera and a blanket.

He set it up and plugged a wire into a socket on his arm and projected what was playing onto the wall.

"This is test 13 of…"

~§~

The tape finished playing.

"So you've been a robot this whole time" said Astrid as Hiccup packed up the recording equipment

"Yup, been active for precisely 1 year, 2 months, and 7 days" he said as he hefted logs he shouldn't of easily been able to carry and dumped them by the fire.

"But… I've seen you bleed, and what about when people have picked you up?" She asked frowning

"Well I have this other ground breaking invention called nano bots that easily replicate blood and can help replicate most wounds, even make new limbs" he said casually "and I've been able to decrease body weight, both are very useful"

"You say that like you tear off a limb regularly" she said as she wrapped herself further in a blanket that hiccup had brought her.

Hiccup remained quiet and looked away.

"Wait,Wait, Wait, has Stoick actually…. I mean I knew he was a dick but that's too far even for him, when I next see him or my mum-"

"No, Astrid it's not him that's tearing my limbs off… it's… it's me" he said shrugging and bringing his knees up to his chest "it gave me a distraction from… how useless I am, and it gave me an excuse to take out my anger and to be deactivated and not have to be alive and-"

He was cut off from his ramblings as Astrid had wrapped both herself and the blanket around him. "Hiccup, stop thinking like that, that's how they want you to think" she said quietly.

They stayed in silence for a while.

"So are you like sentient or are you just like an expensive toaster"she said teasingly

"Aww, gee, thanks for the confidence boost" he said sarcastically "I'm just as sentient as you, I'm the first truly sentient being to exsist" he said proudly

"The first truly sentient being to exsist and what does his creator do, lock him away and beat him when he gets angry" said Astrid angrily as she hugged him tighter.

"Wait, how did you know abou-"

Astrid laughed but here was no happiness behind it "Hiccup, it was so obvious, remember the day we met, you talked about punishments, and I've seen the bruise" she paused with an expression that read she was also mulling something over.

"Plus my mum is at the moment running a secret investigation and is slowly amassing evidence against Stoick, for a child abuse case, her first clue was a speck of blood she found on the bathroom sink" she looked at Hiccup

Hiccup remained silent

"It would be useful if you just applied came forward now because then we'd have the victim-"

"I can't" he said quietly "at least he semi-looks after me and I don't know what he'd do to me if I did that" he said eyes darting around as if expecting Stoick to appear out of thin air.

"Look at you Hiccup" she said grabbing his shoulders "you can easily stand up for yourself" she took in a breath "and you're the most amazing and funny guy I have ever met"

Hiccup pulled her into a hug

They stayed like that for a while as the fire crackled in the background.

"So what you getting me for Christmas?" She asked

"What?"

"Ya know the traditional sort of exchange of gifts between family and friends"

"What?"

"Ugh, you know the tree and the lights and all the singing"

"Ohhh, Well, last year I was told to stay in my room and not come out for a week, which I did"

Astrid looked at him sympathetically

"We should go to that big thing there throwing"

"The berk ball?" He said incredulously "But that involves dancing which you have to do and it's a fancy dress thing, I don't have any fancy clothes"

"I literally just saw you make clothes out of thin air"

"this is true"

"And we can practice" she said

Hiccup thought about it "your really okay with this?"

"Yeah I don't mind dancing"

"No, I mean with me being an AI?"

She paused "… it's unusual" she said finally "but you've given me plenty of supporting evidence and you still act like Hiccup, so yes, I'm fine with it" she paused "could you make me some fancy clothes too?"

Hiccup smiled

"And no dresses!"

~§~

They were finally dug out at 1pm by Astrids farther who had become worried when she stopped texting back, when he finally dug through and found them they were both huddled around a fire.

They were very relieved to see him, he was relieved as well but hid it under the the guise of being a farther and exclaiming "you don't have to snow in the entrance just to keep people out ya know" he had said when he found them as Astrid turned bright red, hiccup just looked on confused.

Hiccup politely declined to stay at the hofferson while someone else cleaned up the snow. He said that he would easily be able to do it himself.

~§~

It was Christmas, and Stoick hadn't come back for several weeks.

Hiccup and slowed down work on toothless to work on Astrids gift. He had made her a necklace with a small ice blue gem at the centre.

He heard a knock on his door and opened it to see Astrid, she was wearing a blue tuxedo with a blue bow tie and a white button up shirt underneath, but her shoes weren't anywhere near as fancy They had agreed no dresses and had decided to go in similar clothes.

Hiccup was wearing a green tuxedo with a green tie.

"May I take you to the ball, sir?" She asked in a deep voice Mock bowing

"Why indeed you can, kind Miss" he said in a High pitch voice

He stepped out and locked his house before following her to her parents car. They were both going to be there as well, in fact everyone was going to be there.

"You two look great" said Phelgma nodding in approval

"You sure there's nothing going on?" Asked Ash with a cheeky grin on his face

Astrid blushed while hiccup looked confused.

Traffic wasn't bad but parking spaces were. They finally found one quite far away and had to walk the rest of the way. The city Hall was said to date back to Viking times when the first Vikings landed in America and built a village hall. Since then it had been increased in size so now it could fit all the people going into it.

"It's deceptively big isn't it" said Astrid when they finally got inside and looked around at the mass of people.

"Well it's a happy time" said Ash "you two have fun, me and your mom are gonna go and dance"

"Well guess it's just you and me" Hiccup said shrugging

They walked around looking at everything.

There was a big buffet table, a stage with a billboard above it that was currently showing the lyrics to the song currently playing, lots of tables and a dance floor where people were currently partying to some sort of rock song. There were even these machines that walked around holding drinks trays.

As they were about to take to the dance floor an announcer spoke "if the ladies and gentlemen could please make there way to the stage to hear a speech by Stoick Haddock himself, that would be very kind"

Hiccup looked over in shock, Stoick? Was in berk?

The lights darkened and hiccup got an idea, Astrid had said he shouldn't be afraid of Stoick, or of speaking out against him.

"I'll be back in a minute" he whispered to Astrid

Before she could ask where he went he disappeared. 'I thought he was willing to stand up against Stoick and not be afraid of him anymore' but she shrugged and watched as Stoick walked out onto the stage.

There were cheers that he waited to die down "Well, it's been a good year hasn't it?" The crowd cheered "Berk has really grown, along with my business, as I'm sure you can tell by the robots that have been serving your drinks"

"When I was young I was always tinkering about with any machine I could get my hands on, and look at me now, running a massive business about it" his smile faded "of course… there were a few… Hiccups along the way"

'Bastard' thought Astrid

"I met my wife in collage, and we were both doing similar things, except she was the code designer of our little team" he looked down sadly before looking up again "we tried for a long time to create a robot that could work, when it finally did… it killed Valka, took her from me in an instance-"

The crowed gasped as the billboard above flashed in big bold letters above Stoick ' ** _LIAR_** '

Stoick looked at it in shock before trying to bring the crowds attention back to him.

"I'm sure that's just a… uh, technical issue. As I was saying, she pushed me to pursue my dream, even in her death, she was such a caring and loving person, that love has made me treasure every robot I've built-"

 ** _LIAR_** flashed again

"-and has led me to become who I am today, I'm sure if she could see me now, she would be proud-"

 ** _SHE WOULD PROBABLY TURN IN HER GRAVE, IF YOU HAD GIVEN HER ONE_** flashed on the billboard.

People started muttering

Stoick stood stunned for a second before scowling "have a goodnight" and wish that we walked backstage.

The lights turned back on and the music restarted.

A few minutes later Hiccup was back by her side.

"Hiccup did you see the billboard?"She asked excitedly then paused looking at his smirk before grinning herself

"Are you feeling hungry?" He Asked as he offered her his arm

"Actually yes, yes I am" she said as she hooked his arm through this and they walked to the buffet table.

~§~

They had finished there food and were talking.

"You wanna try and get like, a farm or something, or just like, an easy way to grow food" said Astrid "but the problem is you wanna get away from all nuclear power plants cause I saw on a documentary about if humans disappeared that after a month of no maintenance a nuclear reactor will explode" she sat back "definatly want a silenced weapon, that or a physical weapon, like a Lobo from world war Z"

"What's that?" Hiccup Asked

"It's a great zombie book about how the world would actually react to a zombie virus, anyway, zombies would just be one of the few problems you'd get factions and gangs and just general jerks-"

"Well hello, Astrid" said Snotlout voice as they turned from there interesting discussion about how they would survive the zombie apocalypse to see him there grinning in a black suit and tie.

"Snotlout" She said in a bored voice

"Astrid, babe, you're a girl"he said as if speaking to a child "why aren't you wearing a pretty dress?"

She huffed "because I didn't want to"

Snotlout scowled "well you should have, anyway" he said "would you like to dance with me astrid" then he laughed "what am I saying! Of course you want to dance with me"

"Actually Snotlout" said Hiccup in an irritated voice "I think you'll find that we're going to dance and that she can wear whatever the fuck she wants"

Snotlout scowled "like she's want to dance with you, your useless, I'm cool and everyone respects me"

"Will those wishing to dance please make there way to the dance floor"

Both Astrid and hiccup got up at the exact same time.

"Well Astrid are you coming?" Said Snotlout wiggling his eyebrows

"Eww, No" said Astrid simply as she locked arms with hiccup and they walked past him.

They made there way to the dance floor but waited till more people, were there so they could hide among the couples.

The song started and all the couples around them held hands and started to dance. They looked around and simply followed what the adults were doing.

"Snotlout Just doesn't want to give up, Does he?"astrid Asked sadly

"He wants what he can't get, and once he has you he'll simply cast you aside" he said "but I won't, I'll always be here with you"

Astrid smiled up at him "you realise those words aren't the typical words you say to your best friend?"

"You realise this is a couples dance?"

Astrid smiled up at him

"I know"

Then she tip toed and leaned forward.

She kissed him.

Hiccup genuinely froze for a moment.

Astrid giggled "whoops, best call IT"

Hiccup shook his head and looked at her shocked.

She had just put his lips on his lips. Was that significant? Did it mean something? Let's just go back through the conversation. OH! Well that makes a bit more sense, but still, are they a 'couple' now

He looked down at her happy face. I guess so.

She put her head in his chest as they continued dancing.

"Have you tried turning it off and on again" Hiccup said

"I sometimes can't tell if it's even on" she replied smirking

She was happy. He was happy.

~§~

The night finally came to a close and people walked out of the hall, some very drunk. Lots of singing and dancing and other things.

They got back to the car and they drove back to Hiccups house.

"So did you two have fun" Asked Phelgma looking in the rear view mirror

"Oh yeah the whole thing was great" said Astrid

"It was an enjoyable experience"

"Oh yeah, I imagine it was considering we were right next to you on the dance floor" said Ash jovially

They both blushed heavily

"Might have been a bit distracted" said Astrid quietly with a smile on her face.

"I'll say, might have been distracted just looking at each other and kissing" he sad laughing

Phelgma slapped his arm lightly "aw, don't tease them Ash, we were like that once"

"Yeah but at least we acknowledge it way faster then they finally did" he said As they both blushed even harder.

"you see that billboard" Asked Astrid trying to change the subject

"Ah yes, that was very strange" said Ash nodding

"Very suspicious" said Phelgma gravely and frowning

Finally the car came to a stop on the other side of the road across from Hiccups house.

"Well, it was nice seeing you Hiccup" said Phelgma fondly

"You too… Phelgma" He said as if testing the word in his mouth.

"I'll, Ah… escort him home" Astrid said hurriedly as she opened her door and got out as well.

"Your parents will be insufferable when you get back in" said Hiccup as he put an arm round her shoulder.

They made it to the gate outside the manor and turned to each other.

"So, I guess this is goodnight" Hiccup said sadly

"Yeah" Astrid said quietly

"OH!" Hiccup suddenly exclaimed and reaching into his tuxedo pocket he pulled out a necklace with a blue gem at its centre "This is my gift, to you" he said as he put it around her neck

"Hiccup" she said breathless as she looked at it "It's beautiful" then she looked up "and I got you something as well"she got out of her pocket a ring that was a dragon eating its own tail

"Astrid" He said as she slipped it onto his finger "it's pretty frickin cool"

She chuckled "I'm glad you liked it"

Suddenly a car horn, they looked over to see Mr Hofferson looking at them and tapping his watch.

"See you in a few weeks?" She said

"See you in a few weeks" he replied and leaned in to kiss her.

The world seemed to disappear as they kissed, until the sound of a car horn echoed out.

"I better go" Astrid said smiling

"See ya" Hiccup said as she walked away

Astrid looked back down at her necklace. It was beautifully made, with intricate designs all over it and the gem was clearly no cheap thing, but at the same time it wasn't surprising th-

" **ASTRID LOOK OUT** "

She heard a deep engine noise coming towards her, a car horn and feet running towards her.

Then she saw the car heading straight for her and she froze.

Was this how it all ended. Finally kiss a guy and then get hit by a car. How ironic?

She closed her eyes. Then suddenly a force hit her from the side and arms wrapped around her as she was flung to the right, then a blinding pain went up her left leg and she fell into a void.

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _So how was that._**

 ** _I know cliffhangers suck_**

 ** _Also I'm still not happy about that seven where she finds out._**

 ** _In fact I'm not happy with this entire chapter altogether, feels like a rehash of Halloween._**

 ** _Review and follow, and fav if ya want_**

 ** _See ya!_**


	7. I get knocked down, but I get up again

**_Yeah THIS IS WHERE WE GO INTO BULLSHIT LAND_**

 ** _I dunno nothin bout no coma waking up experiences, just one small detail, nor anything about prosthetics._**

 ** _But the aim is to simply enjoy the plot rather the plot rather then worry over a few unrealistic points. Robots are unrealistic, So is a massive robot dragon so I think we can suspend our disbelief here._**

 ** _Also sorry for the long wait but personal shit happened and I wasn't able to write_**

 ** _~§~_**

Astrid slowly opened her eyes, she saw white all around her. "H… hiccup?"She croaked quietly, then everything faded away as she heard a familiar voice next to her,

When she next awoke she didn't fall asleep like last time, she opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling and smelt the sterile room, she looked around, she was in a room, there were chairs and a TV in one corner.

She slowly sat up, everything seemed to be in order, her left leg was a bit numb but otherwise everything appeared completely fine, so why was she here?

She had been out to a party, with Hiccup, and then she had kissed him, and that had danced, then they left. When they got to his house they had exchanged presents. Her hand flew to her neck and she felt that the necklace had gone, looking around she saw it on a tabletop next to her, she reached over and put it on.

Then she had been looking at the necklace when someone, Hiccup, shouted. Then there had been a car, she had been tackled and then a pain in her… left leg.

Oh no.

She hard The life support machine she was attached to began to beep like crazy as she flew back her sheets, at the exact pint that a doctor and nurse rushed in. But she wasn't focused on them, she was looking at the stump of her left leg.

The whole world seemed to just drown out around her as she stared numbly at where her leg had used to be.

She barely felt the hands that gently lowered her back down, how was she going to run now?

Then everything became sluggish and slow as the doctor and nurse injected her with some sort of drug.

Her last thought was 'is Hiccup okay'

~§~

Hiccup was not okay.

How did teachers expect him to keep up with school work when his best friend was literally in a hospital bed missing a leg, what was he supposed to do, just forget about her. Everyone else seemed to of.

"Hey useless" thud, he was now on the floor "your not so tough now are you,, with your protector gone"

 **DAMAGE RECEIVED….**

 **IMPACT TO CALF…**

 **GENERATING BRUISING…**

"Are you not going fight back?"

 **DAM-**

"Not gonna cry"

 **DAMA** -

"Ugh, you've become so boring"

 **DA** -

"It's like you're a robot or something, honestly"

 **DAMAGE RECEIVED-**

"Well done useless now your boring as well. Come on guys, let's go find something interesting"

School had just gone back to the way it had been. He was bullied or ignored or both.

He didn't really care though, that felt good. It felt good to separate himself from his emotions.

Become what he really was, an emotionless robot.

He would often go to the hospital immediately afterwards and simply read. He was reading the last book Astrid had told him about, World War Z.

He was reading about Yonkers when-

"H…hiccup" came a croak from beside him

He immediately looked over, smiling. "Astrid?" But She was already closing her eyes.

"It's okay" his smile faded "you rest as much as you need"

She didn't wake up after that.

~§~

He was walking into the hospital, the doctors and nurses all new him by this point, that tended to happen when you'd been in and out for 6 weeks. Though the doctor had a smile on his face, unusual.

"Hiccup, Astrid woke up, she's officially out of her coma" his smile faded "though we weren't quick enough to stop her from seeing the… damage, we had to put her back to sleep for a bit, but she should be coming back around soon"

Hiccup walked past him quickly and rushed to Astrid's room.

When he got inside she was laying in her bed, but this time she was breathing coherently, her hair was splayed out around her and reached to her stomach, her body had become thinner and lanky due to her long time asleep.

He took his usual spot and got his book out, 1 hour, 17 minutes and 53 seconds later he heard a Goan from beside him and he looked over to see her slowly sitting up, her hair spilling messily down her back as she rubbed her eye.

He supported her back carefully as the bed began to auto adjust to her position.

"Careful, take it easy" he said soothingly "you've been out for six weeks"

"Six!?-" she dissolved into coughing and spluttering

Hiccup winced as he handed her a cup of water "possibly not the best information to wake up to" she grabbed it in one hand and took his hand in the other.

She glared at him "try missing a leg" she said dully

Hiccup sat quietly as she drank, occasionally refilling the water cup. "Your lucky they say, because when you were out you missed a lot of the pain that comes with recently losing a limb, but apparently there's gonna be stuff like itches and pain and the feeling of being touched from a phantom of your leg as the brain adjusts"

Astrid stared at him and finally saw his eye "Hiccup what happened to your eye?"

"Do you remember what happened?" He said quickly

"A… a car hit me" she said quietly

"Yeah" He said the gripped her hand harder "and he just drove off, didn't even slow down just ploughed right through you, didn't even care about what-"

"Hiccup" Astrid said quietly "your hurting me"

Hiccup quickly let go with his hand and looked down at her red hand.

"DAMMIT" he yelled as he stood up "why am I so useless!" He yelled

"Hiccup…" she whispered as she looked in horror at his right hand

 ** _EXTREME DAMAGE RECEIVED…_**

 ** _RIGTH HAND SEVERED…_**

 ** _STARTING REPAIRS…_**

He looked at the electrical wires that danced around sparks flying, then at the hand that he had torn off in rage. Then into Astrids face, seeing the fear and concern in her eyes as the sparks reflected off them.

He sat back down slowly

"I…uh haven't exactly had a good time either" he said finally

Suddenly the doors to the room opened and a doctor and nurse rushed in. Hiccup shoved a his stump into his pocket and walked to the corner of the room, and sneakily picked up his hand to reattach it.

Meanwhile the doctor and nurse were with Astrid.

"Your heart rate picks up, is everything okay?"

"Uh… yeah, everything's, Uh, everything's fine" she said masking her shocked expression

"Good, Good" said the doctor as he looked over one of her IV drips "how are you feeling?"He Asked as he put a hand on her neck

"Hungry, And confused, a bit sick"

"Well your doing better then most, Can you read the time from the clock on the wall?" He Asked experimentally

She squinted at the clock then glared like it had personally attacked her. "No" she said

"Okay, don't worry, that's normal" said the doctor "We'll bring you some food, you just rest up" and then they left the room and hiccup sat back down in the chair.

"So, hows school been?" Astrid Asked quietly

"Oh, it hasn't been bad, teachers giving out lots of work and homework and crap, ya know the usual. Did you know that our English teacher tried to get me to bring you home work, even though you were in a coma? Honestly some teach-"

"That's not what I meant" she said

"Well it's been the usual"

"Hiccup"

"What do you want me to say?" He said as he looked away "it's been how it was before you arrived"

"And who did this to you?" She said as she brought his chin and turned his face towards him while she stroked the spot

"Who do you think?" Hiccup asked

"I'm gonna kill Snotlout when I get back" she said angrily

"There's the Astrid I know"

"Here's some food – Oh, am I, Ah… interrupting anything?" Asked a nurse as she wheeled in a cart with a plate of food on it.

Astrid blushed as she dropped her hands and sat back up on her bed "No" she said quickly

Hiccup looked confused.

"The Doctor has called your parents and they'll be here soon"

"Tamp ough" She said around a mouthful of food she was devouring the meal in front of her

~§~

"Are you sure your alright?"Asked Astrids father as he sat next to her holding a hand tightly

"For the millionth time Dad I'm fine" Astrid tiredly said

"Don't blame me" he said "you go through your child being knocked into a coma for six weeks and still having to go to work and pretend everything's fine" he glanced quickly at Astrids mother who was talking to hiccup happily "and the less said about your mother the better"

"What was that ash?" She asked threateningly

"Ugh… that me and you are very pleased to see Astrid awake" he said nervously chuckling

Just then a doctor walked in

"Mrs Phelgma Hofferson And Mr Ash Hofferson" He said pleasantly, then a grim expression descended onto his face "do mind if I talk with you privately?"

"I'm sorry doctor Sven, but I refuse to leave Astrid's side" said Ash "So you might as well say it here"

Sven paused and bit his lip "if your sure then" Ash and Phelgma both nodded "You can pay the bill for Astrids care and the treatment she's receiving" he started "But on your insurance plan… Prosthetics aren't covered"

Silence

"Are there alternatives?" Asked Ash quietly

"A wheel chair, or crutches" at that Astrid paled and her heart rate monitor picked up

"I won't be able to run?" She said pale

Sven looked at her solemnly and opened his mouth to speak only to get cut off.

"I can make Astrid a running blade prosthetic" Hiccup said quietly

Astrid looked at him hopefully while Ash and Phelgma looked at him surprised. Sven looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Just give me Astrid's leg measurements and I can have it here by… tomorrow" he said

"Look, Kid I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but there's no way you could just make the prosthetic leg in just 12 hours"

"Just give me the leg measurements"

The doctor quickly gave him the required information and they all watched him as he walked out, a confident smile on his face.

Hiccup would make the leg, he had two advantages

Nanobots and no requirement for sleep.

~§~

Astrid was watching TV when hiccup walked in a box under his arm.

"Is that it?" She asked excitedly

"Indeed, But we'll wait for the doctor who after I showed him the contents is currently getting a local prosthetic designer to come in and have a look, make sure it works" he said shrugging as he set the box down.

"I'm sure it's fine" she said reassuringly as she began to stroke her hair, the she finally realised how long it was "I should really get a hair cut" she said disbelievingly

"NO!" Said hiccup loudly and quickly "it's fine the way it is, I like it" he said in a sheepish voice

Astrid grinned "I guess I could keep it" she said in mock reluctance

Then the doors burst open to reveal a fat man with a bold head and a blond moustache, but the most interesting feature was his missing hand and feet which had prosthetics on them.

"Sooo, are ye' the lad who fancies himself an expert prosthetic designer?" Said the man in a thick Scottish accent

"Yeah" said Hiccup sheepishly

The man looked him up and down then at Astrid and his eyes lit up in understanding

"Look kid I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't need to look at the prosthetic to know that it's…

Probably not up to standard" he started but hiccup interrupted by shoving the box into his arms

The man looked at Hiccup in surprise before shrugging "fine, suit yourself" he said and began opening the lid "Don't blame me-"

He stared at contents of the box, his face frozen, his eyes and mouth wide open in shock.

He reached in and pulled it out and Astrid also looked at it in awe.

It was a blue and orange patterned running blade prosthetic and was very light.

The man looked from the prosthetic to hiccup then back to the prosthetic in quick succession before nodding his head and grinning, the grinning soon dissolved to chuckling, then to an eruption uproar of laughter.

"Oh, I like you lad" he said as he placed the prosthetic back into the box then shook Hiccups hand "That's a great style you've got, the names Gobber and you know what I think?" He said as he stood back and looked at Hiccup with a more analytical eye "I'd say you've could have a good future in prosthetics and engineering" he said nodding "ever thought of doing an apprenticeship?" Gobber asked.

Now hiccup had for most of his life been locked in a house for most of his life, and only recently shoved into the world of school. He didn't even know what awaited him after school finished. But glancing at Astrid, she was nodding at him. He grabbed her hand and she squeezed, he then looked back at Gobber

"No, but I am now" He said

"Good!" Gobber handed him a card "when it comes to that time don't be afraid to set something up, eh!" He said as he walked out.

"Well That was interesting" said Hiccup

"This is fucking amazing Hiccup" said Astrid as she looked over the prosthetic

"Well it would be cause I'm also amazing" he said matter of factly

"Someone's pleased with themselves"Astrid said as she put the prosthetic down and leaned over to him "I much prefer this hiccup to yesterday's hiccup" she said and kissed him.

When they broke the kiss hiccup chimed "but yesterday Hiccup promised to make you a prosthetic"

"Details, details" she said

~§~

"How can we ever repay you?" Asked Ash as he looked over the leg.

"There's no need" said hiccup dismissively

"But you just made this" said Phelgma "it must of cost something" se said her eyes looking worriedly at Hiccup

"No, really" he said firmly "it's fine, it's like an extra Christmas gift" he said

"Well now I owe you a debt" said Astrid "I've got to get you like two Christmas presents

"If ya Don't there'll be a horses head in your bed" said Hiccup in a mock accent

They all laughed as a nurse finally came in "Astrid, are you ready to possibly start your treatment?" She asked

"Of course" Astrid grumbled, she was getting tired of being cooped up in the same room, plus it couldn't be that hard to walk with the prosthetic limb could it?

The nurse offered her some crutches, not usual conduct but the hospital staff had gotten used to her pride and fierceness.

Astrid took them and with a helping hand from her farther set the crutches down, though she would admit it to no one, she was usually exhausted by just trying to get to the toilet while using the crutches which is why she was grateful for hiccups hand on her back as they walked to the training room.

As the walked in they were surprised to see Gobber standing there.

"Welcome lass!"He said cheerily as he walked over to them "you must be her parents" he said as he shook their hands.

They got acquainted briefly as Gobber led them to a seat.

"So lass" he said calmly "am I right to assume that you think it will be easy to just simply put on the prosthetic and walk out of here, hopping and skipping?" He Asked

Astrid nodded, as a little uncertainty started to make its way in.

Gobber chuckled "well" then his voice turned grave "it's not, you will get angry, you will get upset and you will lash out, you will probably at one point say something that you don't really mean, but that's alright" he patted his chest "thick skinned and muttonheaded boar is what I am"

Them he brought out the prosthetic "you first lesson is to learn to put it on and take it off, once you've learned that we can get to re-learning to walk"

Gobber pulled out the leg and a weird looking sock with a screw on the end. Over the course of the next hour he showed her how to apply the lotion and the sock which he went into a bunch of technical jargon about 'springs' and 'memory foam' and ended it with how 'terrible' it had been a decade before with all these different leg attachment techniques. He then got onto how to actually apply the leg.

"This is the best method for your lifestyle" Said Gobber "Because this type of prosthetic allows you to run professionally and while it isn't technically for walking around in, lots of people do anyway" he said as he gestured at the leg.

"Now thanks to 'Vast systems incorporated' prosthetic attachment is easier and as I can see, Hiccup here knows his stuff" he nodded at the boy respectfully.

He showed her how the leg was as simple as screwing on and then attaching the velcro to the velcro on the sock.

He then made her repeat the process on her own, occasionally helping when she got stuck. It wasn't a particularly hard process and Astrid was determined, by the end of the hour she could do it, albeit a tad slower then she would like.

"Right then lass, let's try standing" Gobber Said reassuringly

Astrid put a determined look on her face to hide her uncertainty as she breathed in.

And stood up.

She opened an eye, she was doing it!, she was standing!

And Gobber was right, whatever was in the sock attachment thingy made it fell comfortable while also making it seem like she actually had a leg! Though she couldn't feel anything.

She felt confidence rush through her.

"Good work lass!" Gobber said in admiration "usually takes a few goes-"

Astrid tried taking a step forward and immediately started to fall, only to be caught by hiccup

"-to get it right" Gobber finished "as you can see now lass, it's not that simple" he said

Astrid scowled

~§~

"The kid made a prosthetic?" Said an investigator

"Yeah" said Phelgma "the man at the hospital said it was the finest bit of work he'd ever seen"

The investigator team started muttering

"Does this effect our investigation?"

"Ultimately no" said Phelgma "But I want cameras installed in all the rooms except the kids and master bedroom" she looked around "and I want it done quietly"

~§~

It was two days later and Astrids second session, only hiccup could make it as her mother and father had to return to work.

"Alright lass, you see the rail bars here" he said gesturing to the rail bars that looked ominously before her "your going to grab them in a death grip and use them to help you walk"

"But the rails aren't gonna be around with me everywhere" she said frowning

"Indeed" Said Gobber as he picked her up easily and gently lowered her down back onto her foot as she grabbed the bars, her knuckles white. "Hiccup! Get in front of her, catch her if she falls, or else"

Hiccup obediently darted round to the other side of the rails and walked up in front of her, and for added measure put a hand over hers and squeezed reassuringly. She looked up at him, her eyes conveying the unsaid fear she was suddenly feeling, he just smiled and nodded reassuringly.

Astrid with that boost in bravado took a step forward…

And began to collapse again but was stopped by hiccup as he caught her under her arms. She was breathing hard.

"It's alright" came Gobber voice from behind her "that's perfectly normal"

She found her footing again and tried to take a step, she closed her eyes waiting to collapse. But she stayed upright.

Excitement rushed through her

"I did it" She cried excitedly "you saw that didn't you?!" But in her excitement she had let go of the rail and started to pitch backwards only to be grabbed by the collar and wrenched upright again, her hands gripping the rails.

"It's okay to celebrate" Said Gobber jovially "But I would recommend holding on"

~§~

It had been a week and a half now, Astrid could almost make it to the end of the rails, her determination and her own self ruthlessness had driven her so that she was doing better then others by this stage Gobber had said.

But the word 'almost' was key here

And Astrid was quite a ferias person

"Piece of monkey wanking shit!" she exclaimed as she was about to make it to the end of the rails only to fall into Hiccups arms again.

"I'm gonna get a book" Said Gobber cheekily "keep that one stored away"

Astrid while happy that Gobber hadn't said anything about her not doing well, still felt irritated at the man for no reason.

She walked back to the start of the rail and tried again.

Breathe in

She started to walk

Breathe out

She continued walking

Breathe in

She was over halfway there

Breathe out

The end was in sight

Breathe I-

She saw a foot and looked up to see Hiccups face, a smile on his face as his eyes lit up, thoughts pretty and loving eyes that were focused solely on her safety.

She felt herself pitching forward again.

"NO!" She violently exclaimed and took a defiant step forward "Dammit Hiccup you fucking distracted me again"

"Astrid"

"Why do you have to be such a caring piece of hardware"

"Astrid"

"You overpriced toas-"

"ASTRID"

Astrid paused as she realised she was standing easily on her own two feet and she was at least four meters away from the exit of the rails.

"I did it" she whispered to herself

"You did it" Hiccup said smiling happily

"She did it" Said Gobber affirmatively, nodding his head, his arms crossed

She squealed

Squealed

In pure delight and flung herself into hiccups arms, the two stood there laughing and giggling, There foreheads touching.

"Alright you two" Said Gobber soberly as he walked up to them as they separated at his words "this is a moment to celebrate I'll give you that, but Astrid there's still farther to go, you've got to pass a treadmill test before you ca be allowed to leave and even after that it's a process of building up stamina and endurance"

"Treadmill test?" Asked Astrid

"Aye, ya walk on a treadmill for an half an hour, no breaks while a doctor and your trainer watch if you don't fall over your allowed to leave" he said like it was a great honour "but if you want to go back to sprinting you'll have to push yourself, Well cover running, but you'll have to build up your stamina and endurance which will take a month or two at most"

"I'll do my best" said Astrid nodding fiercely

"by the way" Gobber said "you do have the strangest insults, were you about to call Hiccup an overpriced toaster?" He Asked with a raised eyebrow

Astrid blushed

"it's because, I... Ugh, make really good toast in the morning" hiccup said quickly

Gonner looked between them brpeofre walking off and muttering about the 'youth of today'

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _SORRY FOR HOW MUCH BULLSHIT THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER PROBABLY WAS, JUST NOTE BEFORE YOU REVIEW AS SUCH THAT I AM AWARE OF SUCH THINGS_**

 ** _But please review and follow and maybe favourite_**

 ** _Soz fro the long wait_**

 ** _See ya!_**


	8. Facing the music

**_Soz again for the delay_**

 ** _~§~_**

Astrid stepped out of the hospital and breathed in the air that didn't smell of cleaning products. She looked around at the car park and at the busy road and the people, just being people, they hadn't had there lives changed by some asshole in a car.

She looked down at the leg. It was a bad thing to happen and she couldn't run for long with it, but that could all be changed with practice, like going back to square 1. It also looked really cool.

"You ready?" Asked hiccup uncertainly "Are you sure you want to walk home?"

"Yes" she said determinedly and nodding "I have this for the rest of my life, might as well use it like a normal leg"she looked around at the beautiful trees around them, swaying without a care to their surroundings "plus, after being cooped up so long, I just want a little freedom, you never realise how beautiful the world was until you can no longer see it"

Hiccup rolled his eyes "with that braided hair you could almost pass for a hippie" he said dryly but a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, Alright you overpriced oven" she said rolling her eyes but smiling as well.

She breathed in and took a step forward.

"So you looking forward to school?" Asked Hiccup

"No, people are gonna stare at me" she said frowning

"Yeah, but that'll stop after a while" said hiccup dismissive

"And Snotlout he'll probably say something like 'it's so Astrid' and I'm gonna have to do school work"she said exasperated

"Well could have been worse"said Hiccup shrugging "could get run over by another car"

"Yeah that would suck"

They walked for a while in silence, Astrid watched as a school bus wizzed past at a ridiculous speed

"I heard they hired a new bus driver" she said as she watched it rocket off into the distance

"Yeah" said Hiccup "his names dagur and" he looked around then leaned in close and whispered "he's also obsessed with me"

Astrid snorted "what gave you that impression?"

"He does the downtown route right? And my house is like at the most opposite part of downtown. But his second day on the job, he diverts from his route and stops at my local bus stop and then I have to sit as far away as possible as he drives back downtown and does the normal school run" he said his tone rising with every word.

"And how'd you make such an… impression on him?" Astrid Asked amused

"He's literally insane, like ya'know how you say 'that was insane' ironically. Well this dude is literally mentally insane, I've seen him a few times with a handler" he said ranting "I think it's part of some sort of program to reintroduce the insane into society"

Astrid felt her leg start throbbing, she checked the street name and winced as she saw they were still at least twenty minutes away.

"It's hurting, isn't it?"Asked Hiccup sympathetically

"What, no no, it's fine" Astrid lied unconvincingly as she winced again

Hiccup narrowed his eyes suspiciously but said nothing as they walked along for a minute or two, Astrid wincing all the way.

"So your trapped in a burning building" said Hiccup

Astrid turned to him, these were her favourite sort of discussions, what if? Scenarios. "How would you prefer to be carried out by the fire men" he asked.

Astrid thought through the pain for a minute "probably piggy back style, because then it would look li-"

Se had gotten so caught up in her explanation t she didn't notice as hiccup positioned himself in front of her and grabbed her legs before easily hoisting her up on his back. Astrid paused for a few seconds, still stunned as hiccup carried on walking as if nothing had happened.

Then she pouted and placed her chin on his head "I could walk on my own" she said pouting

"I know"

~§~

She waited at the bus stop nervously. She was going back to school, everyone was going to look at her, everyone would know that she had lost a leg.

All anyone at school knew about her was that she was in a coma after being hit by a car.

Se still wore he necklace that hiccup had given her, she didn't care what it had caused.

The bus rounded the corner and pulled to a stop at her stop. She climbed in, said hello to the driver, who looked surprised to see her and then turned to the rest of the bus. It wasn't full but it definatly had a few people who stared at her surprised.

It had been 10 weeks since the car accident, and she had been awake for 4. She spotted hiccups mop of auburn hair at the middle of the bus and walked forwards trying to ignore all the stares.

'Woah is that Astrid' 'damn look at her hair' 'she looks even hotter now' 'holy shit, is that a fake leg!' Were the general gist of the murmurs as she finally sat down next to hiccup, both smiling at each other. The she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

She could here all the gasps and all the phones being brought out to send a text to someone and the murmurs.

'Holy shit is she kissing Hiccup' 'how long have they been a thing?' 'Maybe the car crash messed with her brain too' 'Holy fuck she's missing a leg'

"And how are you feeling this fine balls freezing morning?"Asked Hiccup sarcastically

It was indeed, bloody freezing. So mush so that even the usual hard weathered people of berk were putting on woolly hats and gloves.

"Oh you know, good" she said shrugging "and I win in my prediction that people would stare"she said smugly.

"It's not much of a prediction if it's literally impossible for the other option"he said

They sat in a comfortable silence as the bus drove along.

"So they warned me at the hospital that this cold weather will irritate my leg greatly" she said then a little more vulnerably "could you possibly…"

"Of course" said hiccup smiling reassuringly at her.

~§~

The bus finally pulled into school and all the kids filed out. Most trying to just get a look at astrid.

When they were out and walked up the path leading to the steps of school, all the kids milking around waiting for friends looked at them.

She tried to ignore it as everyone stared and murmured. She found it easier if she was looking at Hiccup, he didn't seem to mind at all as he walked to the steps.

Astrid paused and looked at the cold hard stone the steps were made from.

"Need a hand" whispered hiccup

She gave the fraction of a nod and he linked an arm through hers and helped her up the steps. She had climbed up steps in the hospital. But she wasn't so sure about the big steps the school had.

They reached the top and unattached from one another, they weren't one of those clingy couples, they didn't need to always be touching or talking. As long as they were close to the other they could take on anything.

Astrid stopped when they took the step inside. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to stare back.

Silence followed

Astrid started to sweat

"Jeez Guys" called out hiccup loudly "I was only gone two days, didn't realise you'd be that surprised to see me again, I mean we go to the same school"

Everyone seemed to snap out of there staring and either pretended they hadn't or glared at Hiccup thinking he had actually meant what he had said.

They walked through the school, hearing all the murmurs and seeing all the stares as they finally made it to there lockers.

Hiccup's had the words 'no one likes you' painted on the front

"Who did that?" Asked Astrid angrily as she reached for her locker key

"Hm?" Said Hiccup not seeming to really care about the words on his locker "Oh, right, it was just there one day" he said shrugging

Astrid was about to retort as she opened her locker, but instead dissolved into a coughing fit as dust surged out and into her face.

"You'd think I'd just opened some sort of lost treasure" she said through her coughing fit

"Well 10 weeks is a long time" said Hiccup "especially with all the work you've missed" then he grinned "plus eduacatiin is the greatest treasure"

Astrid groaned as she got out the relevant text books and shut her locker.

They walked to class. As Astrid went through the threshold an ache shot into her leg. Disguising her wince with another cough which brought a lot of attention into her as the people in the class looked at her.

She sat down next to Hiccup and pretended not to notice.

"We got a few minutes"said Hiccup "what if someone ran at you with a… chair leg?"He Asked

"Hm, I'd release my leg and smash them with it" she said miming a swinging motion

"But you'd just fall over, and you'd probably break the leg" countered Hiccup

"In that case I'd-"

At that very point the teacher walked in and the class began

~§~

"I missed so much" said Astrid in a disbelieving voice as she walked out of there final morning class

"Yeah" said Hiccup shrugging as he opened his locker and dumped all his textbooks inside "that happens when your in a coma"

"And my leg started to itch" she said annoyed

"Why didn't you scratch it" asked hiccup without realizing

"I can't exactly scratch what's not there" she said annoyed

"Oh, right, sorry" he said sheepishly

"No its okay" she groaned "But how am I going to train my leg and pass all my subjects?"she said worriedly

"Me" Hiccup said as he waited for her to sort out her locker.

"I depend on you for a lot"she said then facing him with a glare "if you just abandon me or… or"she felt a tear coming to her eye but she shook her head "you get the point" she said

"Hey, Woah wheres this come from all of a sudden" said hiccup raised eyebrow as they walked to the cafeteria

"I don't know"she said shrugging "probably just this damn leg" she said chuckling

They picked up there food and sat at there usual table, lots of people, would glance over at them.

"Bathroom break" she said as she kissed him on the cheek and got up and walked to the bathrooms.

Hiccup continued eating, not caring for the astonished looks he was getting or the increased murmurs.

"Hey, Useless" said the familiar voice

"Hello chuckles"sad hiccup unusually indignant

"What do you think your doin kissing my Astrid?" He said angrily

"Your Astrid" said hiccup looking at him and raising an eyebrow "I mean I know history can be a bit full on at times but surly your not stupid enough to believe we live in the 1800's anymore"he said sarcastically

Snotlout scowled "What stupid story did you tell her to make her start kissing you?" He said indignantly "say you saved your life or something?"

"She remembers what happened that night perfectly, so I don't actually have to lie to her to make her lie to me… unlike you" Hiccup said

"What did you just say?" Asked Snotlout threateningly

"I said that you lie and threaten people to respect or like you" said Hiccup shrugging his shoulders

Snotlout stood there in stunned silence. Everyone looked on in silence

Then he marched right up to Hiccup and loomed over him "wanna say that to my face"

Hiccup dropped his cutlery gave an eye roll and stood up and stared right into Snotlouts face. Snotlout realised at this point that hiccup was the exact same height as him and they were staring each other directly in the eye.

"Got a problem with your ears, snot face" he said annoyed "Well you gonna say something you pig nosed fuck?" Said Hiccup smirking at Snotlouts fearful expression

He liked this. This feeling of power.

And with toothless being nearly finished, he could get this feeling of power over others, permanently. He'd make Snotlout beg for forgiveness for the way he talked about Astrid. He would-

"Hiccup" said a soft voice behind him as a hand was placed gently on his shoulder.

He turned his face slightly, he saw Astrids eyes, her kind eyes that at the moment were filled with fear. He then realised that he was literally centimetres away from Snotlout.

He stepped back.

What had thoughs thoughts been? Were they his or…

Snotlout seemed to quickly recover from the staring match and turned to Astrid a 'charming' smile on his face.

"Ah Astrid, so glad you could arrive so you could stop this ridiculous game your playing" he said

"What?" Asked Astrid annoyed

"Look astrid, I get it, your just playing hard to get, I understand but I admit defeat, Alright? So you don't have to pretend to like useless anymore, I mean just look… at you" he suddenly saw the fake leg and cringed

"What? Problem Snotlout?"said Astrid, eyebrow raised "Oh right Yeah, you hate people with prosthetics, don't you?" Astrid feigned sadness "guess we can never be"

"What! Uh… I didn't mean what I said, I can look past it. I mean it's so… so Astrid" he said non convincingly

"Sure, whatever you say Snotlout"

"Look astrid, just come over here and we can have a start fresh" he said

"Fuck off" she replied curtly

Snotlout scowled then stepped forward a dark look in his eye "Now listen here you bitch" Astrid had to hold hiccup back as he tried to lunge at Snotlout who didn't even notice "your going to listen and obey me, or I'll make your life very fucking difficult" he said threateningly

Astrid laughed forgetting to hold Hiccup back "was that supposed to be a threat, Jesus I've seen puppies be more vicious"

Snotlout walked forward and raised a hand, going in for a slap.

Then a hand snapped up and grabbed Snotlout hand. Snotlout looked down to see it was Hiccups. He tried to pull away, except he couldn't, his grip was too tight.

" **Listen here, you rat-fucking, incest child** " said hiccup darkly " **you even think about hurting her** " and then he squeezed, through the stunned silence everyone could hear the **crack** and then Snotlout **screaming**. " **I think you see my point** " he whispered into Snotlout ear

This power, it felt so…

Good

So right

Then he turned to Astrid.

She was pale and she was also scared, her hands were trembling

Hiccup quickly let go and took a few steps back.

Then several teachers appeared.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Shouted the P.E. teacher

"He… fucking broke… my fucking wrist" said Snotlout through tears as he pointed at hiccup with his other hand.

The school nurse descended upon Snotlout.

"Did he push you?"She asked as she looked at the wrist

"No he just did it by holding me!" He said shocked

The P. E. teacher, a massively muscled man looked at Hiccup with what Hiccup swore was a hint of respect "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF BOY?" He said menacingly

"It was self defence" said Hiccup shrugging "he was going to hit Astrid" then his voice turned cold "I simply eliminated the threat"

That sounded strange coming from his mouth…. But also right at the same time.

"DO YOU REALISE HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOUR IN BOY?"The P.E. teacher (who had spent so long shouting it was his normal tone of voice)

"Ah, right I see, so when he attacks me, we turn a blind eye, but when I defend someone it's suddenly a big deal?" Said Hiccup sarcastically

"You didn't need to break his bloody wrist boy!" Yelled the nurse as she led Snotlout away "Come on let' so put a wet paper towel on this…" her voice faded out

"YOU REALISE WE'LL HAVE TO CALL THE POLICE"

"Sure, go ahead then"

The P. raised a massive hairy eyebrow then beckoned with his finger as he started walking away.

Hiccup looked at Astrid "you Okay?" He Asked uncertainly

"ME! I think I should be asking that to you" she said angrily "the amount of trouble your in… ARGH!" She grabbed her hair angrily and punched him in the shoulder "that's for being a prat" then she grabbed his collar and pulled him forwards and leaned in and kissed him. "And that" she said as they parted "was for defending me"she said smiling.

"COME ON BOY, YOU CAN BE CONGRATULATED LATER" said the P. from the cafeteria entrance arms crossed "BUT FOR THE MOMENT YOU HAVE TO BE PUNISHED"

With a parting smile he turned and walked towards his doom.

~§~

"Hiccup?" Said Phelgma surprised as she walked in to see hiccup sittings the desk glancing about nervously, and Snotlout who was sitting far away from him.

"Phelgma" He said pleasantly "how's your day been?"

"I think I should be asking you that" she said looking from Hiccup to Snotlout who was looking angry

"Hey, I'm the victim here!" he yelled "not him"

"Is your dad going to be here soon?" Asked Phelgma

"Yeah" He said uncomfortably then nastily "he's gonna press charges against you" he sneered at Hiccup

Hiccup looked at him, bored.

Then a man, an older Snotlout clone came in.

"So this is the boy who's hurt my boy!" He said in an unnaturally high voice, scowling

"Hiccup, is your father going to come, he hasn't answer anything" Said the principal surprised, he was a smartly dressed man, thick white hair and a thick graying beard and a pair of circular spectacles.

"Yeah, I don' think he would care enough to come down, I'll just represent myself"Said Hiccup non-chalantly shrugging.

The principal raised his eyebrows while Phelgma frowned. But Spitelout just scoffed "probably just trying to make sure his parents don't come here"

"Well, in that case, let's get this meeting underway shall we" Said the principal "you were in the cafeteria Snotlout when you said that, and I quote 'he just walked up and attacked me with no provocation' is this true" he directed the question at Hiccup, Who in his eyes was an exemplary student, while he had gotten many complaints about Snotlout

"Well, Not really" Said hiccup "me and Astrid sat down and were talking, she left to do something and while she was gone Snotlout started threatening me, as usual" he added dryly "so I decided to fight back, he got up in my face, so I simply returned the gesture. Then when Astrid came back he started talking pretty derogatory towards her, when he threatened her she simply laughed it off, he then decided to try and slap her, so in defence of my friend I eliminated the threat" he said shrugging

"He's lying" said Snotlout earnestly

"And you eliminated the threat by" the principal adjusted his glasses "by fracturing his wrist in 2 places… with your bare hands" he said eyebrows raised as he looked at Hiccup

"I don't know my own strengths" he said casually

Phelgma looked shocked that this lanky boy, who she had known for a long time and fractured another kids wrist easily by the sounds of it! Protecting her daughter.

"Do we have any witnesses to the event?" Asked the principal

"Ask the twins, or anyone in fact" said Snotlout smugly, knowing he could threaten anyone into making them say he was in the right.

"But the catering staff had a much clearer view of what happened" Said Hiccup shrugging "it would be more effective to ask them"

The principal looked between them then whispered something to his secretary.

A few minutes later and the caterer who was on serving duty stepped inside.

"I'm sorry to disturb you during clean up, but did you see what happened in the cafeteria, Sven?" Asked the principal

"Aye, I did" he said nodding "I'm pretty sure everyone saw" he looked at Hiccup thoughtfully "we all saw as this lad" he pointed at Snotlout "provoke the other lad" he points at Hiccup "several times, only verbal, then the blonde one comes along and holds this one" points at Hiccup "back after something the other lad said, then there talking and this one turns proper brooding, looks ready to kill and the girl just laughs, brave lass" he shakes his head "then the lad marches forward ready to strike the girl, and this lad just grabs his wrist, they say something then we all hear the crack"

Sven shakes his head "you can ask any of the cafeteria staff, most of us saw the whole thing"

"Thank you Sven that will be all" said the principal nodding

When he left he turned to Phelgma "So what now?"

Phelgma was furious and elated at the same time. On the one hand, this boy, who her daughter told her about, treated her as some sort of property and was prepared to hurt her baby simply because he thought he owned her! But on the other hand, Hiccup had defended her daughter, proving just himself worthy.

But… the power to just break the boy's wrist that way… something was very fishy here.

This incident was going into the investigation.

"Well, unless we want to go to court, where Snotlout would lose with so many witnesses" she pointed out "I suggest that hiccup simply cover hospital costs"

"Is that it!" Said Snotlout angrily "but his dad is rich" he said

"I would think yourself lucky" said phlegma angrily "you just got away with attempted physical assault on my daughter and a criminal record" she said Cooly

Snotlout and Spitelout physically paled

"Do you agree to those terms hiccup?" Asked the principal worriedly

"Sure" he shrugged "I'll get you the money after you tell me the cost"

~§~

"Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed happily as she ran forward and hugged him as they filed out the room, Phelgma came along and hugged her daughter and they all chatted.

Snotlout kept his head down but glared murderous eyes at the pair as he and his father walked off to the hospital.

"You'll pay for this hiccup" he said ominously "Astrid will be mine, and you'll be the dirt beneath my feet"

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _Yo_**

 ** _Waddup_**

 ** _Dunno how many chapters are left maybe three or four more?_**

 ** _After this story planning on a sci-if story... again_**

 ** _So review and fav or follow_**

 ** _See ya!_**


	9. Accidents

**_Sozzle for the delay. And sozzle for the short chapter but this has some good moments in it._**

 ** _Shit went down, planning my next story which is going to be a superhero story where Hiccup finally has the correct powers (in my opinion). Also I seem to quite enjoy writing stories where Hiccup and Astrid are friends._**

 ** _This is also the beginning of the end, and it pains me to say that there may be a few longer breaks between the next few chapters which is pretty shitty of me, but it's also the first time I've actually planned a story. So I want it to be good_**

 ** _Yeah most of this story the chapters were quick ideas that seemed cool and the entire story was based off a song I listened to as I walked home from collage. But this is also like the most successful story I've written even before I changed my name._**

 ** _~§~_**

Hiccup looked at his creation, the machine that would give him power. Give him respect and let him serve the justice he so rightly deserved upon the world.

He had painted it black, it was big at least 10 meters in length and 1 ½ meters tall, its wings had been a problem because he couldn't simply attach to lumps of metal and flap them really hard to create thrust and launch a big piece of metal into the sky.

But the four jet turbines did the job well enough, even if they had taken forever.

He arrived back in the manor and walked forward, today was another day of school, most kids his age wouldn't of stayed up all night, but hiccup wasn't most kids.

Then he heard the rumble of a car coming in, he glanced towards the drive. His father was home, he looked around at the mess that had accumulated while Stoick had been away. Panic began to rise in him.

His father stepped through the door way and took a look around a scowl on his face.

"Look at this mess" he said "useless at everything you do"

Hiccup looked away avoiding eye contact, he felt scared. This was different from how Astrid told him to stand up for himself, to see what he could accomplish without Stoick, the man was clearly a living fucking mountain for crying out loud!

Then he saw Stoick car.

The car.

The car that caused Astrid to be in a coma for 6 weeks and lose her leg.

"It was you" He whispered

"Well what do you have to say for yourself, boy!" Yelled Stoick as he glared at Hiccup

Hiccup looked up at him "I'm not your slave" he replied firmly

Stoick started walking towards him "you're a bloody useless one" he said "can't even do the thing we created you for" he shook his head "this is the thing that Valka died for"

"I enjoyed your speech" Said Hiccup

Stoick froze "you were there?" He said in silent fury

"Yup" Said Hiccup then smirking "did you know how easy electric billboards are to hack when your like me"

Stoick started towards him again, shaking in anger "you made a complete fool of me" he scowled further "you've made the police suspect me, when it was all nice and quiet" he stood in fronted the boy now looming over him "You've almost ruined my career"

"Well, consider it a small revenge" Said Hiccup

Stoick brought down his hand, going in for a slap

Then hiccups hand came up, lightning quick and caught the hand.

Silence.

Stoick tried to wrench his arm away, but hiccup held firm

"How, dare you" said Stoick furious

"How dare I?" Echoed Hiccup angry his voice shaking "after everything you've done, how dare I?" He laughed bitterly "oh sorry Stoick I didn't realize that beating me up was one of your favorite things" he crushed the finger he was holding and Stoick reared back clutching the hand in pain.

"After everything I've done for you" said Stoick seething

" **AFTER EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE FOR ME?** " Roared hiccup "SORRY, DIDN'T REALIZE THAT YOU BLAMING ME, BEATING ME, IGNORING ME WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR WAY OF CARING!" He breathed "all you've done is made me awake and then made me hurt" he shook his head "then you leave to go off and create machines, that aren't like me, ones to bring joy to others, either for entertainment or for war or to just make peoples lives easier. hoping that might bring you some happiness" hiccup laughed "you, over-satuarte your life with nothing but machines, but because of me, the one machine that's not how you wanted me to turn out" he paused "you might make everyone happy but your dead inside just like me"

Hiccup looked him in the eye "your pathetic" Stoick looked shocked and even a bit scared "and I'm glad moms dead, just so she doesn't have to look at you"

Stoick roared and tried to punch him with his other hand but hiccup easily caught that as well.

"You don't know what it's like!" He Cried "to have to wake up everyday and hope that she' sthere sleeping next to me, only to see the empty space and the machine that resulted in her death still walking around"

"You didn't even bury her properly" Said Hiccup angrily

"And what was I supposed to bury!" Stoick Said angrily "I didn't even have a body after everything that happened" he scowled "all she left me was a useless robot that just reminds me of her and our failure whenever I see it"

"Maybe you should of treated me better" Said Hiccup shrugging "considering I'm the last thing your wife gave you" then hiccup sneered at him "I'm just glad you didn't have a real child"

Stoicks eyes widened in shock

He and Valka had tried for so long for a child, but they always failed. Then she had gone off to tinker away with her projects.

Then she had come back talking of artificial intelligence and robot bodies.

Stoick looked at the child in front of him. Not in disappointment or anger, but actually looked at wat they had created.

He looked so much like her, but the nose and the hair.

How had he not seen the signs, how had he not seen what Valka was actually trying to do.

"Son" he whispered

Then hiccup dropped his fist and began to walk past him, not even glancing at him.

"No" he said evenly "you've made it clear you don't have a real child" The was a pause and he could hear that hiccup had stopped walking "and you lost the right to call yourself a father a long time ago"

Then he left.

Stoick started at his hands as tears finally came to his eyes.

He had failed, despite all his achievements, he had failed at the one thing he had always wanted to be.

A father

~§~

"So, what do you make of all that?"

A frustrated huff "I don't know"

Silence

"So what now"

A pause "I think this investigation just got even more interesting, let's head to the Station the chiefs gonna want to hear this"

~§~

Hiccup sat in the bus, ignoring all the looks he was getting, it had been a week since the incident with Snotlout and people were still looking at him.

Snotlout wasn't as pompous as he had been after, perhaps a good arse kicking was just what he needed.

The he felt the seat shift as someone sat down next to him

He turned around to see Astrid staring at him worry in her eyes.

"You look brooding" she said

He frowned "I'm not brooding"

"Uh, huh" said Astrid non convinced

"Well Stoick decided to come back this morning"

Astrid immediately felt worried "did he hurt you, did he do something, was he drunk-"

"Well at first, I was scared" admitted hiccup "then I looked over and saw his car, and then I thought of you and… Well" he shrugged "I told him something different"

Astrid raised an eyebrow "why did his car remind you of me?"

Hiccup shrugged "it'll become clear soon enough"

Astrid frowned "What's That supposed to mean"

"I saw the van that's been parked with all the other cars for the past few months finally drive away"

"Wait, if it's been listening for months, then" she looked panicked at Hiccup

"Yup, probably, but more likely they don't always listen in when it just me, alone, but I imagine the truth about me is in the recording somewhere, if they listen to the whole thing" then he shrugged "then again with modern day equipment they can probably just get a computer to pick out all occasions where someone is speaking"

"You don't seem too worried" Astrid said

Hiccup shrugged "not much I can do" then he looked out the window "Maybe it would be better, for everyone. If i just…" he trailed off

"Just what?" Asked Astrid scared

He didn't respond

~§~

"I swear Dagur is going to run someone over, or crash that bus" Said Hiccup as he watched for ten classroom window as dagur drove by. The bus going at speeds it probably wasn't meant to do "probably both"

"Well at least he gets people where they need to go" Astrid said shrugging as she stared at the equation in front of her, hoping that it would just solve itself. "Plus Do you really want to walk to school in the cold?"

"It doesn't make a difference to me" Said Hiccup shrugging "Plus in the afternoons it's quite warm" he then looked at her worriedly as she stroked her long hair "How have you been handling the cold?" He Asked

She scowled "mornings are a bit rough, but I'm fine" She then reached down to scratch her leg, only to realize that it was her prosthetic "and now I've got a frickin itch" she said angrily

Hiccup took her hand and gave a light squeeze "I'll always be here astrid"

She smiled, then frowned "but what you said on the bus…"

They remained in silence for a few minutes

"What happened Hiccup?" She asked

"I'll tell you at lunch" he said as he got back to work on his own math sheet.

~§~

"So, you caught his fist?"

"That's the point your focusing on? Not the emotional confrontation but the fact that I caught his fist" said hiccup humored

"But that's good Hiccup" she said encouragingly "shows you can stand up to him"

"Yeah, I suppose, but with toothless I can-"

"What's Toothless?" Asked Astrid

"T-t-toothless, ha, what sort of name is that, I-I didn't say t-toothless" he said nervously laughing unconvincingly

"I literally watched your mouth say toothless"

"So you were looking at my mouth?" Said Hiccup trying to change the topic

"Hiccup" said Astrid lowly "What is toothless"

"It might" he said quietly looking at his lap "be a… weapon"

He snuck a quick glance at Astrid who was looking at him with a dangerous expression on her face.

"And what?" Said astrid dangerously "do you need that for"

Hiccup paused

Why did he need toothless?

For power, to deliver justice and pain upon his enemies, to destroy those who would oppose him…

Oppose him from what

What goal was he trying to achieve.

"Well" Asked Astrid

"I… dunno" he finally said

"If anything that looks worse if when they arrive to come and take you Dad away and search the property and they find this weapon"

Hiccup groaned

She was right, of course she was right

"I'm so stupid" he said angrily then slammed his head into the table "useless"

Astrid grabbed his shoulder and wrenched him back "you are stupid, but you've never been useless" she said patting him on the back

"How am I going to fix this" he said sadly

Astrid didn't answer

~§~

It was the end of the day. Hiccup and Astrid walked out onto the grass. They took in the scene of the school as kids ran to buses or ran off into the distance.

They reached the sidewalk when they saw the cop car on the other side of the street pull up.

Hiccup grabbed Astrid's hand. Ignoring the other students around them.

A police man got out and looked at the school before him before pulling out a phone and looking from the yard to the phone repeatedly. Then his eyes landed on Hiccup he looked at the photo then hiccup a few times before finally looking up and gesturing with a 'come here' motion

Hiccup took a deep breath took a step forward. Then he felt his foot catch on something and he was falling.

Not so bad then.

Then he saw the bus rocketing towards him

He closed his eyes just as the impact was coming.

~§~

Deep in an underground workshop, a metal statue stood. All around it the air was deathly still.

Then a whirring started up and various other sounds of mechanisms activated as the eyes of the statue lit up.

It looked up at the two metal doors. It opened its mouth and a rectangular sleek glowing object appeared in its mouth and with a shriek a ball of plasma fired at the metal doors bursting them apart. Then with a mighty roar from its jets and help from its claws it took off an away. Toward the signal.

~§~

Astrid looked in horror as Snotlout tripped up hiccup.

She was about to go beat him up when she saw the bus, then saw as it impacted Hiccup.

Everything froze. She heard the sickening crunch of metal and flesh and she watched as the bus carried him several feet before breaking only to throw him off and out of sight.

The cop stared open mouthed. Everyone around them had gone silent.

Then there were a few cries as people started to come over to see the damage.

Astrid ran forward and when she got round the bus blocking her view she stopped, relief on her face around a see of confusion and fear.

Snotlout stared in horror and realization of what he's just done

The cop had come over and was also staring in shock

"What the fuck…"

Hiccup lied there. Some blood.

His right arm was severed the wires dancing uselessly sparking searching for the body and limb they had been attached to.

The part of his body that had scraped on the ground was sheared. Showing the metal frame beneath for all to see.

His left leg was attached by just a few wires, and one of his eyes had popped out and was dangling uselessly from his expressionless face, electricity racing along the wire that connected it.

People brought out phones, taking pictures, videoing it.

Then to the gasps and shock of all except Astrid to see, his leg reattached itself. His eye slowly drew itself back in and to the screams of some hiccup sat up. He grabbed his right arm and brought it to the socket where the wires seemed to magically reattach themselves.

People were backing away now and the cop brought his gun up.

"Get on the ground!" he shouted

Hiccup ignored him and looked up in the sky.

Astrid followed his gaze and gasped so loudly that others looked to her then to the metal object flying towards them.

"toothless" she whispered to herself as the object was suddenly upon then and snatched hiccup up.

"No" she exclaimed as it took off with him, higher and higher into the sky.

Then it turned around and began diving.

Straight at them

A screech echoed out and got louder as they got closer.

Everyone scattered.

"Please, don't panic" the cop was yelling but no one was listening

Then the bus exploded in a brilliant ball of fire.

Astrid ran. She needed to stop her friend from doing something he would regret.

~§~

Stoick sat dumbly on his couch and took another swig.

He was oblivious to the world. He didn't care when he heard the explosion from his backyard. He didn't even care when a swat team broke into his house and pointed guns at him.

He only cared when a woman walked forward and said in a similar tone of voice to his wife when she was angry.

"Stoick Haddock" she said "under normal circumstances i'd be arresting you" she paused "but we need your help"

~§~

Probably two more chapters left now

Review follow and favourite

See ya


	10. Goodbye

**_This is like, the last chapter, also next story is now confirmed as a sci-fi au, dunno when it's gonna come out though_**

 ** _~§~_**

Hiccup was damaged

The bus had damaged something and he felt like a prisoner in his own body as he watched his body maneuver toothless into another dive and blow up a factory, a Haddock industries factory.

He didn't have the strength to fight it, only occasionally willing the machine to divert course slightly if someone was in the firing line.

He felt lost.

He needed something, but he couldn't tell what.

~§~

The machine dived again and with a fiery exploding destroyed a billboard advertising a Haddock product.

Astrid stared up at the machine but couldn't see hiccup.

She saw it was now chasing a police helicopter racing through skyscrapers.

She was annoyed because she still wasn't able to run yet with her leg the way it was. She walked briskly after them, ignoring the others around her as they ran in the opposite direction.

She needed to stop her friend.

Then an arm grabbed her shoulder and whipped her round and she stared into the face of a police officer.

"Your Phelgma Hoffersons daughter aren't you?" He Asked

Astrid nodded in surprise

"Come on, I'll take you to your mother" and the man dragged her into a police car and they took off into the streets

~§~

Stoick sat in front of the investigation team. They were all running around frantic as calls came in from all over the city, he watched as a fully armed swat team ran by. They had searched him before entering and confiscated all his possessions.

Phelgma came and sat at the opposite side of the table he was sitting at.

"The military is going to be called in" she said tonelessly "the chief is coming down in a minute or two and a military general so we can try and learn what we're up against" She then leaned forward "but I'm here because I'm a parent and I feel more responsible to a boy that by the looks of it isn't even real and I have one question… Why?"

Stoick looked confused "Why, What?"

"How can you just, abuse, another sentient being" she said coldly

Stoick remained silent for a few seconds.

"Valka, died. Because of him" he said sadly "there was an explosion and the boy dragged me out, but left her to her fate"

Phelgma was silent her expression and emotions unreadable.

Then a man in a blue suit walked in, a badge showing his rank of chief of police. He was followed by a man in a green uniform his outfit showing his rank of genral.

Phelgma shook there hands and stood to the back as the two men sat down in front of Stoick, they were then joined by a woman with some pen and paper.

"Stoick Haddock" Said the chief "I'm Oswald and this is general Sven, we understand that you know and built that thing out there"

Stoick nodded

"Well at the moment you aren't facing pretty charges but if you help us now, being a terrorist won' the one of them" Oswald said

Stoick remained silent.

"What is that thing?" Asked the general

"It's an AI, fully sentient or . . or HICCUP for short" he said

"You made a fully sentient AI and didn't inform the government?" Said the general incredulously

Stoick nodded dully "my wife actually made the AI part I simply made a robot body to accompany it"

"And how long has it been active?"Asked the chief as he looked down a clipboard frowning

"About a year now" said Stoick

The chief frowned furthered as he raised an eyebrow "given what your accused of, of which we also have evidence, you built a sentient being, the first to exist and abused it for most of its existence"

Stoick simply nodded embarrassed "I may of gotten drunk a few times"

Phelgma snorted and a man came in and quickly whispered some words and she followed the man out of sight.

"So does it have any weaknesses?" Asked the general

"Well if you completely obliterated it" Said Stoick shrugging "it's really tough, it can regenerate any thing and can lift things car to heavy for anyone else to lift" he paused "but on the back of its neck is a USB port. And a while ago I had made a safety measure, a virus, by my company"

"And where is this USB stick?" Asked the general

"Amongst my possessions"

The chief quickly ordered a subordinate to look through the evidence for the stick

~§~

Astrid Looked around the evidence room. She had been brought here so she would be out of the way of all the people rushing round and the people coming into the police station for safety.

She saw the label on the tray 'Stoick, Haddock' and felt angry, this was the man who had driven her friend to punish himself for faults that were not his own.

Her mother came in and quickly hugged her.

"Are you okay?" She asked showing fear for the first time

"I'm, fine mom, it's hiccup I'm more worried about" she said worriedly

"He's in a lot of trouble"she said doubtfully "a military general is here to gather information before they send in the army"

Astrid gasped "but they can't do that!" She said shocked "Hiccup is a bit out of it, I'm sure I could reason with him…"

Phelgma looked at her uncertainly "Are you sure about that because at the moment, he's destroying the city"

Astrid was about to reply when another man broke in, whispered something to Phelgma, who nodded and walked to the door "I have to go Astrid, but stay, put, here… you know what I mean" and she disappeared.

Astrid looked at the floor.

Did hiccup have a choice over what he was doing, or was the machine simply using him as a means to get revenge of Stoick and those who tormented him. Maybe he was in the wrong, her mother had always taught her the difference between right and wrong and what the punishment was for wrong.

Hiccup had to be stopped.

But, she didn't want him to be stopped by being destroyed by the military.

He at least should get the chance to see someone who loved him before he died.

Astrid felt a cold weight form in her stomach.

She had to do it. Whatever 'it' was she was sure that hiccup would prefer she did it rather then anyone else.

Then she saw a USB stick on the floor, she was about to look at it when a man walked in and grabbed the tray.

"What are you doing here?" he looked at her confused

"I'm Phlegma's daughter" she said

The man nodded and began to leave with the tray.

"What are you gonna do with that?" She asked

"I'm looking for a USB stick, got a virus or something on it that can apparently stop this thing"he said as he left

Astrid looked down at the USB stick on the floor.

The world had heard her silent plea and presented her an opportunity.

She looked at the stick. If she picked that up there was no turning back…

She picked it up.

~§~

She was walking through a deserted street.

She would never admit how terrified she was as she gazed up into the sky searching for the machine.

Searching for her friend.

Then she saw a streak of black, but when she turned to look it was gone.

She kept looking.

"HICCUP" she called

Nothing

"HICCUP" she called again,

A shadow passed over.

~§~

Hiccup saw her and instantly felt power surge through him, he guided the machine down towards her and land right there.

She slowly turned to stare up at the machine.

"Hey there" she said fearfully.

~§~

A man burst into the room.

"What Is the meaning of this!" Exclaimed the chief

"Sorry chief, but it's landed and… your gonna wanna see this" And the man ran off

The chief, general and assistant walked out.

They saw a crowd standing around a monitor. It was one of the cameras from a helicopter.

It showed the machine had landed in front of a small girl.

"Oh no" whispered the chief

He spotted Phelgma, her hands over mouth and a tear in her eyes as she stared at the screen. He was surprised that Phelgma was having this reaction until he realised that the little girl looked familiar.

~§~

"Hey, there" she said terrified as she slowly walked forward

Hiccup wouldn't hurt her. He protected her.

She felt the terror wash away as she clung to the thought. Even when the machine growled and opened its mouth, a rectangular up object sliding out, clearly the weapon that had been destroying the city for the past hour.

Se took a step forward and saw the machine powering up the weapon.

She needed to bring hiccup out.

"Hiccup, come on, babe it's me" she said soothingly as she outstretched her hand she was so close now that the barrel of the weapon was pointed squarely at her chest.

"Don't you recognize me?" She said hopefully

The machine gave another growl and the weapon grew brighter as she placed a hand on the 'snout' and closed her eyes, waiting for anything to happen.

Silence rained for several long seconds then she felt the cold metal remove itself as the machine reared up and sat back on its haunches.

She stared in confusing as its chest opened and out fell Hiccup, still a bit battered but it was him, without a shadow of a doubt.

"Astrid" He said worriedly as he looked at her

She was so happy as she through herself at him, hugging him tight. She was so relieved and at the same time crying with utter sadness as she lifted the USB.

"Astrid" Said Hiccup scared "shh, it's okay, I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere"

"I know" she said sadly "that's why it makes this some much more painful" she said through her own guilt and grief.

Hiccup was confused. Then he felt the USB plunge into his neck.

The virus was pathetic, he could so easily fight it off. But… then he'd just be destroyed by the government anyway.

He felt Astrid sobbing into his shoulder, still holding tightly onto the USB and his body as he let his arms fall.

"Astrid" He said

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she kept babbling

He grabbed her shoulders and forced him to look him in the eye.

She looked terrified as she stared at him, expecting some form of Devine judgment. Some scathing words. Anything.

He smiled "thank you" he said as his legs finally succumbed to the virus and he collapsed.

Astrid got down onto her knees as she put his head in her lap. Still crying she looked at him.

"I didn't want you to be destroyed or-or killed by anyone else" she said sobbing "and I wanted to be able to say that I love you, and that I wish there was another way" she shook her head "but I guess it's too late for that"

Then an idea struck him as he stared up into the sky.

A compartment unfolded from his arm, an empty vial and a USB stick.

"Take these when I finally die" he said "there purpose will become clear later"

Astrid nodded her brow furrowed in confusion as more tears rolled down her cheeks.

He looked up into the sky as his arms finally succumbed to the virus.

"The Sky is so beautiful"he said sadly "it was so nice to fly in it"

Astrid smiled sadly "of course you would focus of the flying part more wouldn't you" she said

"Flying is fucking cool Astrid" he said as his voice got quieter "you should try it sometime"

"I'm so sorry, Hiccup" she said as guilt took over her "maybe everything would have been fine if-"

He shook his head weakly "it's fine Astrid, after all the pain I've been through I think I'm allowed to rest" he stared up into the sky wistfully "death sounds so much nicer then living at the moment" he frowned "I wonder if there an after life waiting for me, some sort of silicon heaven"

Astrid chuckled "It's times like this where I wished I could've gotten you drunk"

Hiccup chuckled as well "the calculators have to go somewhere" he sighed "a robot can dream"

"Did you dream?" She asked

"No" he paused as he felt more processes power down and the virus begin to work on the firewall of his core "but of all the human experiences, that's the one I wanted the most"

"What would you like to dream about?" She asked curiously as tears continued

"Of you"

He felt the virus finally get to his core and begin powering it down.

"Goodbye… Astrid" He said as his voice got quieter and he did the last thing he could before succumbing to the void.


	11. Epilogue

**_IT'S THE FINAL CHAPTER_**

 ** _MUSIC INCREASES_**

 ** _~§~_**

Astrid walked into the house, her parents were still at work.

It had been 4 months since hiccup had died.

She missed him and had grieved for two weeks before she finally moved on and inspected the last things he had given her.

~§~

She sat at her desk it was 1 in the morning and another nightmare about hiccup had spun through her head, she had awoken in a cold sweat and groaned before looking round her room for a distraction.

She spotted a glow coming from the cupboard.

She got out of bed and walked over cautiously, Well rather she awkwardly hobbled over on her one still attached leg and opened the closet door.

The glow was coming from her jumper. She hadn't worn it since hiccup had died. She reached into the pocket and her hand closed around one very cold cylindrical Object that felt like glass and the other felt like plastic.

When she pulled them out she saw they were the things that hiccup had given her, after he had died.

She hobbled to her desk and sat down placing the objects onto it.

She stared at them, one was simply a vial with silver glitter in it, it had been the glowing object and the other was a bulky, black USB drive.

She picked up the USB drive and inspected it, it was simply black and bulkier then modern day USB's. she eyed her computer for a second or two before booting her computer up and hesitating slightly, she placed the USB in.

~§~

She grabbed a snack and began the walk up the stairs, she remembered how she had knock Snotlout down and then given him a broken arm and laughed as she strolled into her room.

"What's so funny?" Asked a voice from her computer

~§~

She stared at the typed words on the screen.

OPEN THE VIAL

She stared at the words dumbly for several minutes before the message was deleted and replaced with

ASTRID PLZ

She chuckled quietly and finally snapped out of her staring game.

She reached towards the vial and stared at it skeptically.

It was just a vial of glow in the dark glitter, What was so special about that?

She stood it up on its base and unscrewed the lid.

THANK YOU was typed onto the screen

The dust didn't move for a few seconds then it suddenly took off in a thick mist and flew into her computer tower.

THIS WILL TAKE A FEW HOURS…

She shrugged and relaxed in her leather chair.

She woke up to light on her face and she grimaced and moved back from it.

"Testing, testing, 1,2,3" suddenly sounded.

She shrieked and fell off the chair. She just lay on the floor groaning.

"Astrid honey, are you okay?" Sounded from the other side of the door, it was her dad.

"Yeah I'm fine" she lied as she picked herself up and picked the chair up and sitting back down in it.

"What was that?" She mumbled to herself as she looked around

"That was me" Said that now familiar voice

Se turned to star at her computer.

"Who are you?" She asked wearily

"It's, me astrid" Said the voice, she could almost picture the lopsided smile.

Then she fainted

~§~

"Oh, just remembering the time I gave Snotlout a broken arm" she flopped into the chair "and how was your day?" she asked

"Eh, watched the rest of Star Trek discovery and finished reading Pandora's star" said the voice like it was no big deal

Astrid Rolled her eyes as she walked over to her closet "you are such a sci-if nerd"

"How's it doing?" Asked the voice

She opened the door and saw the bottom half of a torso with legs completed "half way done" she said cheerily.

"Ugh, that's just too long" the voice groaned

"Could be worse" she said "and think about how bad it is for me, I have to go to school and be there alone" she paused scowling "Plus your Dad gonna be in prison longer then you, 7 years longer" she said angrily.

"Your still angry that he nearly got away with all the charges."

"Yes, but luckily the bribery allegations came out… but he still deserved more" she huffed "and Snotlout and the twins are still so cocky even after they were almost charged with assistance to attempted murder"

"But I didn't murder anyone"

"But you looked like you attempted to"

"Well when you say it like that even if I got my body back, the government would just take me away" Said The voice sadly

Astrid clapped her hands excitedly "Actually, I was able to pull a few strings and guess what"

"You played a guitar?"

She huffed, but grinned at the same time "well Heather, has some contacts that may be able to help us out and get you a whole new fake identity"

"Oh shit, that's an impressive guitar" Said the voice

Astrid ignored him "so if she's sable to sort something out then in another few months when your fixed we can give you a new identity" she said.

"Wait do I a new name?" Said the voice

"I'm still gonna call you Hiccup" she said

"I wouldn't have it any other way, milady" Said Hiccup

 ** _~§~_**

 ** _And they lived_**

 ** _Wait is there a bit I'm missing_**

 ** _Ah, that enough._**

 ** _So that was I Can't Fix You. Based off the living tombstone song of the exact same name._**

 ** _None of it was planned in any way._**

 ** _The only planned moment I had in this entire fic was that scene where Astrid puts the virus into hiccup and the scene where Hiccup tears off a limb. Also I'm gonna be deleting the story files on word after this._**

 ** _And guess what, I almost left out what happened to Stoick._**

 ** _This story is dedicated to no one, I just wanted to explore and interesting concept_**

 ** _Could I have done it better. Yes_**

 ** _Was it my most popular story ever. Yes_**

 ** _Was it the first story where I finally got 4,000 words into a chapter. Yes_**

 ** _Overall this was a real rollercoaster to write._**

 ** _And I did it in a month with just writing the chapters and uploading them after a quick check._**

 ** _I'm proud of this and I'm happy with the response I got by writing it._**

 ** _I'm still surprised I didn't get one bit of negativity in the reviews_**

 ** _But I'm gonna go and actually PLAN that's right I'm actually going to PLAN A STORY with various sort of character names, ages, attributes and motives._**

 ** _I'm going to be planning an entire universe of adventure… literally_**

 ** _So until then_**

 ** _See ya!_**


End file.
